Jimmy Butler has been playing some amazing basketball as of late, averaging 25.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists on the season while putting up four 35+ point games in his last 10 games. The man who the Chicago Bulls are hoping to be their franchise player for the next decade is certainly living up to the hype and delivering the goods.
What's perhaps even more impressive is how efficient Jimmy Butler is playing. He's shooting 48.0% from the field, 42.3% from 3-point range, and 89.0% from the foul line. Not only is he getting buckets, he's doing so without having to waste many shots. The shots he's taking are good shots and he's making his opponents pay.
Jimmy Butler has always been a terrific slasher and attacker to the basket, but where he's really made strides is his ability to knock down the 3-ball. In his rookie season, he shot only 18.2% from 3-point range on just 0.3 attempts per game. This season, he's shooting 42.3% on 3.5 3-point shot attempts per game. That's a huge improvement from Butler over the last 6 years.
The jump from last season to this season has been huge in and of itself. Last season, Jimmy Butler was shooting 31.2% from 3-point range on 3.1 attempts per game which is 11.1% worse than where he is now (42.3%). Not only that, but he's shooting a higher percentage this season on more attempts!
What's interesting about this is that Jimmy Butler has always been a solid foul shooter. He's an 81.9% career foul shooter and has never shot lower than 76.8% from the foul line, which was his free throw percentage in his rookie season. While his free throw percentage this season (89.0%) is significantly better than his previous best season (83.4%) in 2014-15, 83.4% from the line is still very good.
The real growth has been in his 3-point shooting, which allows him to be a much more versatile and frightening player to go up against. Not only can he get to the rim and beat opponents off the dribble; he can also spot up from 3-point range and make opponents pay for not putting a hand in his face. Either way, no matter how his opponents guard him, Jimmy Butler will make them pay.
Jimmy Butler is truly turning into one of the most dangerous players in the league and a legit franchise player for the Bulls because he is starting to turn into the whole package. He has great size for an NBA wing (6'7", 220 pounds), plays great defense, gets to the rim, knocks down his free throws, and now he's knocking down his threes. I picked the Chicago Bulls to reach the Eastern Conference Finals this season largely because of Jimmy Butler and so far he is not letting me down. So long as Jimmy Butler continues to play like he is, the Chicago Bulls will remain an upper echelon team of the Eastern Conference.
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