How Butler fits in with Steph, Warriors’ puzzling offense

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How Butler fits in with Steph, Warriors’ puzzling offense originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

LOS ANGELES – Before Jimmy Butler became a polarizing NBA superstar, he had to spend one season playing junior college basketball and three years at Marquette before being picked last in the first round of the 2011 draft.

Butler’s NBA career then began with two years coming off the bench for the Chicago Bulls ahead of becoming an everyday starter his third year in the league. The next season was his breakout, winning Most Improved Player and starting a run of four consecutive seasons averaging at least 20 points per game. Butler in his 14-year career now has put up at eight 20-point seasons, not including one where he finished at 19.9 points per game.

Now that he’s on the Warriors, Butler knows the answer to being his best self on the court.

“Pass the ball to Steph [Curry] and get out the way,” Butler said Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in his introductory press conference.

What if Curry’s being double-teamed or even triple-teamed like he currently is in the Warriors’ stale offense so often this season?

“That’s OK,” Butler said. “I saw it in the Olympics.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr isn’t worried about how Butler will fit in on the court. Butler isn’t an automatic, seamless fit for Kerr’s motion offense. His success much of the time comes from operating out of the paint and turning back the clock from the mid-range. That doesn’t exactly sound like Warriors basketball.

But talent wins out.

“He’s a great player,” Kerr said Thursday. “All great players figure out how to play with other great players.”

Superstar talent or not, bringing a player in more than halfway through the season is never an easy transition. Kevin Durant needed months to figure out how to play alongside Curry. Some players need more, others never make it work.

To ease Butler in, Kerr says everything will have to be simplified. Butler is expected to make his Warriors debut Saturday against the Bulls in Chicago, and Kerr’s plan is to let Butler play the way he knows best and surround him with spacing to let his game…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/butler-fits-steph-warriors-puzzling-212053760.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-02-06 21:20:00

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