Jimmy Butler bet on himself when he forced his way to the Miami Heat in the 2019 offseason. His performance in the playoffs will prove if the bet paid off.
So far, Jimmy Butler‘s first season with the Miami Heat has gone pretty well. The team has performed better than anyone expected in spite of injuries up and down the roster, and Butler found his way back to the All-Star game.
As the playoffs inch closer, the lights will shine brighter on Butler. It’s there, in the postseason, where Jimmy G. Buckets’ status as one of the game’s best players and the strength of the Butler-Heat pairing will be tested.
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After being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in November and helping the team reach the second round for the second consecutive season, Jimmy Butler decided to change venues again. He sought to immerse himself in the Heat culture and he got his chance, as the Sixers and Heat orchestrated a four-team trade that sent Butler to Miami and wing Josh Richardson was sent back to Philadelphia, among other players and assets moving to new homes.
In his first season as a South Beach baller, Butler averaged 20.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists – the latter two of which are career-highs – on the way to the fifth All-Star nomination of his career.
Despite his field goal percentage hitting its lowest mark in two seasons and his 3-point percentage plummeting to the second-lowest mark of his career, Butler was a key reason for the Miami Heat’s surprisingly successful regular season.
Although regular season success is certainly worth feeling good about, it isn’t why Miami targeted Butler. He piqued the organization’s interest because of his experience in the playoffs. Butler has missed the playoffs just once in his career and has been one of his team’s key players in every postseason aside from his first one. However, all he has to show for it are three first-round series victories.
Butler has not yet proven to be a consistently great playoff performer. He’s certainly one of the best the league has to offer but he hasn’t shown to be a monster game in and game out.
In last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, Butler posted 50 percent shooting from the field just three times in the seven-game series. Across the 12 games in his last two playoff series as a Chicago Bull – the 2015 conference semifinals vs. LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers and a 2017 first-round series against Isaiah Thomas’ Boston Celtics – Butler put up two games shooting at least 50 percent and three games shooting under 40 percent.
This postseason will be different for Butler. After leaving Philadelphia, his mentality was called into question. He was dissatisfied with the front office in Chicago who failed to equip him with a good supporting cast and the young players in Minnesota for not matching his edge and competitiveness. The Sixers, with young All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, seemingly offered enough to satisfy Butler.
It wasn’t enough. Butler still decided to part ways with Philadelphia that offseason, citing a lack of organizational authority as a reason why. He faced plenty of scrutiny for the decision to leave the Sixers and he could catch even more flack if Philly beats Miami in a playoff series.
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The Heat currently sits at the fourth seed. The Sixers own the sixth seed but their record is tied with the fifth-seeded Indiana Pacers. With Victor Oladipo, one of Indy’s best talents, choosing to forgo the NBA’s bubble to continue rehabbing an injury, the odds improve for Philadelphia to snatch the fifth seed, which would set up a date with Miami in the first round.
Regardless of the opponent, Butler will have a bigger load to carry in the playoffs with the Heat than he did with the Sixers. Miami doesn’t have offensive ancillaries like Embiid or Simmons. Embiid’s post scoring abilities and Simmons’ combination of strong finishing and stronger playmaking are skill sets that are matched by few in the league, let alone anyone on the Heat. Both young All-Stars are fearsome defenders, too.
Butler’s supporting cast in this postseason will likely prove to be deeper than his henchmen from last year. However, it’ll also most likely lack the high-end firepower. Although Bam Adebayo elevated his game to All-Star level and has had himself a marvelous season, he’s not at Embiid or Simmons’ level.
While Miami’s balanced offensive attack led to success in the regular season, it takes star power to win in the playoffs. Adebayo is stellar but he hasn’t yet played in the playoffs as one of the primary options. It doesn’t seem like Andre Iguodala will turn back the clocks and while Goran Dragic put up solid numbers in his last playoff series, that was two years ago.
The weight of the Miami Heat’s expectations could end up falling squarely on Butler’s shoulders, and he hasn’t always displayed have Atlas-like strength in the postseason. Great players are great for what they do when the game is toughest. Jimmy Butler has proven to be a star in his career, but he’ll need to go off in these playoffs to elevate beyond that.