Miami Heat: Which is the best version of Jimmy Butler?

The Miami Heat and Pat Riley landed a whale this summer in Jimmy Butler. Did the Heat get the best version of Butler that there is or has been though?

Pat Riley and the Miami Heat aren’t one to play around or mince their words. He told us before the last offseason started that he was going “whale” hunting in the coming offseason and he did just that.

While his bounty saw the Miami Heat having to trade away one of their most prized young assets in Josh Richardson, it has turned out to be well worth the investment. While Jimmy Butler has certainly brought a new attitude, a fresh take on that classic Miami Heat demeanor, and sudden relative successful results, it begs of a certain question.

Are the Miami Heat getting the best version of Jimmy Butler? That is a question we will dig a bit into here. Let’s get started.

First Form-Figuring Out Who He Is In The NBA Jimmy- Chicago Bulls Version

This was Jimmy Butler from the time he was drafted into the league out of Marquette University by the Chicago Bulls until the time they traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He came into the league as a tough-minded defensive stopper, who could use his athleticism, toughness, and work ethic to find easy buckets at the rim on clean up or by slashing the lanes.

He continued to grow into a player capable of creating for himself off of the dribble on a limited basis, eventually adding the ability to knock down the perimeter pull up and spot-up jumper. On his way to averaging just 15.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, but 1.5 steals across his six seasons in the Windy City, it was there where he first learned the true extent of his power.

While necessary and irreplaceable, he was his absolute rawest as a player at this period of time. It was a really good role-playing version of Butler, but it was not the best.