The Miami Heat were a few games away from potentially being NBA Champions. Here are three things Jimmy Butler can work on to increase their chances.
The Miami Heat were almost able to take a much more talented Los Angeles Lakers team to the brink. Being able to stretch their NBA Finals series out to six games, the Miami Heat eventually came up short, with the Lakers’ firepower being too much for them to overcome.
The Miami Heat gave them everything they had though. There are no moral victories here though, as the Miami Heat literally left it all out there on the court.
Jimmy Butler most certainly did, as it was enough to catapult the Miami Heat to victory on two nights. Here’s the thing though, he shouldn’t be counted on to be that more than twice in any series, while I really believe it should only be one.
In any situation, he often found himself in a compromising position as well. Mostly on offense, he tended to get it done with pure will and want to, as opposed to nuance and skill.
With that in mind, here are three things Jimmy Butler should be working on during the offseason.
Three-Point Range
Jimmy used to be a very comfortable shooter from the outside. Whether that has changed by a function of his need to shoot it or otherwise, he doesn’t take them with as much frequency as he once did.
He did start to take them with more regularity in the postseason, but we need him to be more comfortable than that by the time the playoffs roll around. He doesn’t have to develop it per se, as much as fine-tune it again, but that’s the first thing.
Jimmy should be looking to consistently add his long-distance shot back to his offensive arsenal. He can get it done all over the court, but the more tools in one’s chest, the better.
The Miami Heat went as far as Jimmy Butler would take them this season. He should be looking to re-tool his arsenal.
Go-To Move & Counter
Again, Jimmy Butler gets it done off of will and effort, but sometimes you must have a bit of skill tied into the mix. He found himself driving to the hole a lot this season, only to then establish an active pivot for a kick out or to shoot the fall-away jumper.
Jimmy needs to re-develop or develop a go-to move for himself. This has to be something where he can get a look at least 75 percent of the time off of it and get a basket at least 30 percent of the time.
You would like that last one to be closer to half the time, or him getting a basket on 50 percent of the times he uses his “go-to” move, but we will try to be somewhat realistic and fair. He also needs a counter off of that move.
Again, Jimmy is a player that likes to do a little bit of everything and we appreciate that. There are times though where we just need him to get a bucket.
Working in this area would greatly help there.
Did We Mention His Deep Shooting?
Look, Jimmy was a beast this year for us. There wasn’t much that he didn’t do and didn’t do right.
He was practically perfect, really. We don’t have anything else, but would like to take this time to double down on the shooting again.
That is so key for us as a team and him. If he could consistently get his outside stroke back, this team becomes just that much more lethal and even deadlier to face.
The Miami Heat were technically a year ahead of schedule this season, so they are set up to try and do it all over again. If Jimmy Butler can definitely improve the areas mentioned above, that increases their chances that much more.