Jimmy Butler is expected to be a seamless fit in a Miami Heat team that values the principles of being a professional among any other, often holding players accountable for their playing shape, commitment to the culture, and ultimately their performance on the practice floor and on the court.
Scouts around the league have taken notice that Butler has finally landed in a spot where he fit in effortlessly.
“Jimmy fits a lot of what Pat Riley looks for in certain guys from the toughness standpoint to somebody who is going to compete and hold himself accountable,” a Western Conference scout told Shandel Richardson of The Athletic. “He’s a fierce competitor, somebody you want to have on your team when you’re in a dogfight or in a foxhole. He’s a very good individual defender. He’s one of those guys you can put on a Kawhi or LeBron (James). He can still score the ball but he’s more of a mid-range shooter who makes shots from the 3-point line. He understands the game. He competes. That’s the biggest thing about him, just his ability to kind of will games. He can be a closer.”
The Heat intended for Josh Richardson to be that guy last season, and he started off hot, scoring close to 20 points per game. Though his game eventually waned, returning to the three-and-D tendencies he had before his name was called.
“Miami found itself as one of the most frequent end-of-games teams in the NBA,” a league executive said, thinking back to this past 2018-19 season. “They now have Jimmy Butler, someone who wants those opportunities.”
Another league scout added: “Josh Richardson was a really good piece to have but when you can turn good into great, you take that every time. Jimmy fits right into the position-less style of basketball that Miami plays and helps improve the defense, which played the most zone in the NBA.”
The Heat will no longer have to morph a dog into a wolf, having swung for the fences with a sign-and-trade that will bring that same intense leader that can take the torch at both ends of the floor. Yet a scout thinks Butler is not exactly a star player, but one that was the benefactor of a high-stakes race for two-way talent.
“It’s a perfect fit due to philosophy and blue-collar approach,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “He will support their cause and them his. He will fight and compete to support their philosophy, but he is not an elite talent. But (he is) a supporting player paid elite money. He is also … high maintenance. … Getting Butler was a good match since they could not get anyone else, but not good enough to make them that much better.”
Fit-wise, the shoe definitely fits — yet to say Butler is enough to propel this Heat team to a playoff spot is a wildly different statement.
Only time will tell if that is indeed a possibility.
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