Bulls' Butler embracing challenge of running point
On a team led by former MVP Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler's desire to run the point could be perceived as stepping on his teammate's toes. In reality, though, the 26-year-old feels he's already a point guard, and now needs to put that to the test with Rose on the sidelines with a fractured orbital bone.
“Why not?” Butler told Bleacher Report's Sean Highkin. “I think (playing point guard) is another challenge, something I have to get better at anyway.
"The only way to get better at it is to go out and do it, attempt it. Trial by error, I guess. Hopefully I don’t mess up too much, but I have confidence that I can do whatever my team needs me to do.”
Never before has Butler been tasked with playing the position for a considerable amount of time, having juggled most of his minutes between shooting guard and small forward over the past four seasons. Rose's injury, along with Kirk Hinrich's bad toe, means head coach Fred Hoiberg needs someone to fill that void and handle the rock.
Upon Rose's return, Hoiberg is optimistic his young backcourt can continue to work well together if their roles were reversed, with Butler running the offense as Rose works off the ball.
“There are different ways to make him a playmaker,” Hoiberg said. “One way to get the ball down the floor is for him to rebound it, and then we have to fill the lanes. If he’s out there with Derrick, Derrick can be a lane-runner while Jimmy pushes it down the floor. But getting him in live ball-screen situations, whether it’s setting a back screen into a ball screen, anytime you get Jimmy with a live dribble into a ball screen, good things happen.”
Chicago invested a great deal of money in Butler in the offseason, on a reported five-year, $94-million max contract extension. It's inevitable he would end up taking on more responsibility, especially with Rose's injury history and unreasonably high usage rate. With little depth at the one and two spots, Butler's emergence as more of a ball-handler and facilitator can only benefit the Bulls in the long run.
Hoiberg plans on starting fifth-year guard E'Twuan Moore in the preseason opener Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks, though Butler will presumably see his fair share of plays at point guard as the team prepares for the 2015-16 campaign.