Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler will be good for Justise Winslow

Jimmy Butler was a great pickup for the Miami Heat. He should also be a great help in the further development and evolution of Justise Winslow.

When the Miami Heat added Jimmy Butler, there was jubilation amongst the Miami Heat faithful. After deliberating on the possibility of the notion for so long, there was an immediate sense of relief felt amongst the fans once it was official, even if only for a short while.

A short while indeed, but only because there was then that realization that this was only the first step back to championship relevance. While landing Jimmy Butler was a feat of great magnitude, there is still work to do. There is work to do on Jimmy’s behalf to get fully acclimated to this system and culture, there is work on Coach Spo’s behalf to figure out how to best use Jimmy Butler, and there is certainly more work to do by Miami Heat team president Pat Riley in order to get Butler more help.

Regardless of what has yet to be achieved, this was a great get for the Miami Heat. Not only should he lead the charge in taking the Heat back closer to title contention, but Jimmy Butler also comes with more subtle added benefits. He should be a great mentor and example for one Justise Winslow.

While Winslow and Butler have traveled fairly different paths, with Winslow being a highly touted high school recruit and highly drafted NBA player compared to Butler faxing in his letter of intent from his part-time fast-food job and while also being a very late first-round pick, they have a very similar makeup. They are both the hard-working hard-nosed types, although Butler’s seems more all-around while Winslow seems to flip a switch on the court.

While Butler overachieved to go from projected role player by some to NBA Max player and Winslow has somewhat underachieved by some people’s standards as the number ten overall pick, that could be their common ground. Butler knows what it’s like to go from the bottom to the top, while Winslow needs help to elevate himself to the levels of achievement he is fully capable of attaining.

While the prior was more of the psychological or intangible side of things, there is a very real aspect of this equation as well. They are both lockdown defenders by nature. While Winslow has been a steady force on the defensive end, Butler is one of the premier defenders in the league. Even if it’s only tweaks or small tips to approaches or film study, there is surely something there than Winslow can stand to take away.

On the offensive side of things, Butler had to seemingly find or refine his game upon entering the NBA. This is not completely different from Winslow who was used to overpowering or being a superior athlete to the competition prior to entering the NBA.

Whereas Butler refined his game, learning to do all the necessary things it took to be a premiere wing while greatly improving his jump shooting abilities, Winslow had to learn how to play his game against players that were just as powerful or athletic. The fact that Butler was able to see those things about his game that needed refining is encouraging to the fact that he should be able to help Justise take that next step.

With similar athletic profiles, he should be able to help Justise identify which aspects of his game, approaches, tactics, or ways he looks to execute could be improved or tinkered with. Butler has figured out what works and although mostly what works for him, in order to make the transition and improvements that he has made, he has to know why it works as well.

That is why he could help Justise offensively because even if they are fluidly different as far as movement, Butler knows why certain things work the way they do. On a simpler level, setting defenders up, basic moves, counter moves, and small tweaks or tricks learned from Butler’s few more years of experience are obviously things Winslow could stand to learn as well.

Butler is one huge notch on the key to the Miami Heat’s future. Not only is he actively a huge part of what it should be, but he is a huge passive component for what he could mean for others. Let’s just hope that Winslow remains a part of this team for these things to have a chance to occur.