An eventful two games for the Warriors’ new acquisition.
A huge part of why Jimmy Butler has been able to acclimate near seamlessly into the Golden State Warriors’ half-court offense has been his extremely high basketball IQ — but it’s also because Steve Kerr has been keeping things simple for him to absorb and execute.
Take note: to start things off in the second quarter of the Warriors’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the play called for Butler to set a screen for Brandin Podziemski on the left side of the floor. This “Pistol” action set, as it is commonly called, coaxes the Bucks’ defense to have to switch Podziemski’s defender (Ryan Rollins) onto Butler (who is three inches taller and 50 pounds heavier). To make matters worse for Rollins, he switches onto Butler with the intention of denying him top-side position — but Butler uses his strength advantage to force his way into top-side position, allowing him an open lane with no obstacle between him and the rim.
A pass to Draymond Green to create a better passing angle allows Butler to get the ball — and with additional bodies crashing down, Butler draws the foul and gets to the line:
The phrase “getting to the line” hasn’t been uttered all that much when it pertains to the Warriors, except if only to point out how the Warriors haven’t been getting to the line as much as they should. Prior to Butler’s debut with Golden State, the Warriors averaged 20.4 free throw attempts per 100 possessions — 27th in the league. Their inability to draw fouls was symptom of their overarching problem on offense: the lack of attacking and scoring variety. It somewhat limited them to being perimeter merchants and rely on the three-point shot, which can be a fickle ally. What has also been fickle has been their ability to finish in the paint and at the rim.
Butler has only spent two games with the Warriors, making the sample size too small to portend overall success. But after back-to-back performances of promise, Butler has accumulated a total of 28 trips to the line. As a result, the Warriors have shot up to 31.9 free throw attempts per 100 possessions against the Chicago Bulls and the Bucks — second behind the Memphis Grizzlies over the last two games, and significantly higher than the Orlando Magic’s league-leading 23.7 FTAs per 100 possessions on the season.
Screens on the side out of “Pistol” are easy enough to execute, but Butler’s willingness to set them and his ability to make contact is a surefire way of him shifting defenses in the post against a smaller defender. If little help comes Butler’s way (or none at all), he has an array of quick spin moves and drop steps to blow past his man, create contact, and finish up close:
The nature of the potential help — along with the spacing Butler’s provided — also allows him plenty of breathing room to operate in the post. Buddy Hield has his man nailed to him on the weak-side wing, while Quinten Post makes any sort of commitment to double from the top a risky endeavor. The help *could* come from the low man, due to Gui Santos profiling as a relatively low threat from the perimeter. But what can Damian Lillard really do against Butler?
The same conundrum is presented here when Matas Buzelis of the Bulls has to switch onto Butler, who easily powers through Buzelis in the paint. The mere presence of Steph Curry and Buddy Hield on the weak side allows Butler to have his way with Buzelis one-on-one, with no one willing to show help and risk having either Curry or Hield be unmarked:
The addition of Post in Butler-centered lineups is a particularly noteworthy one. Unlike Warriors centers from the past and present, Post is quite the unique weapon in the sense that he can shoot the ball and legitimately stretch the floor — and therefore, stretch defenses to their limit.
In their game against the Bulls, Butler — forcing another switch after setting a screen in “Pistol” — was able to find Post in the corner due to help coming his way:
Lineups involving Butler, Post, and another shooter such as Hield are especially deadly in transition. Warriors’ bigs have had the natural tendency to run toward the paint and park themselves underneath the rim after forcing a miss and triggering the fastbreak; Post, however, zigs instead of zagging to the tune of his fellow centers on the roster. All it needs is a bit of drawing in the defense from Butler, a pass outside, and an extra swing pass to punish a defense in rotation:
All of the above has been Butler screening in order to gravitate defenses toward himself — screening for someone like Curry gives the Warriors an additional connecting option other than Green, who can then slot into a play finisher with Butler’s ability to make decisions on the short roll:
Butler’s addition to the Warriors’ half-court offense has been felt — as evidenced by the things he has done on film and by the efficiency metrics. An ailing half-court offense is seeing a short-term injection of efficient scoring: 124.7 points per 100 half court possessions against the Bulls, and 113.1 points per 100 half court possessions against the Bucks (both higher than the best half-court offense in the NBA). Butler’s addition has energized the Warriors, especially Curry, who scored 38 points on 68% True Shooting against the Bucks. It’s still too early to deem this acquisition a resounding triumph, but Butler has done much to disprove the notion that his on-court value won’t be enough to offset the so-called baggage accompanying him.