I wasn’t that surprised the Heat won Game 1 in Boston the other night. I WAS surprised that they took down the Celtics again in Boston during Game 2 on Friday night. How are the Heat doing it? Well, their coach Spoelstra has earned my respect. I thought back in the day he was just a LeBron puppet, but he looks like he’s much more than that. And how about Bam Adebayo? He’s certainly stepped up his game; is he always this good? They have some shooters… young guys like Depaul Grad and ex-Bull Max Strus and old guys like Kevin Love. Martin, Vincent… both impressive, while Herro and Oladipo sit out injured. Yet the guy that makes the Heat go, is a guy we know well. Jimmy Butler aka Jimmy G Buckets is leading the way for Miami, who head back to South Beach with a 2-0 lead; can they actually beat the Celtics???
I talk to this guy at the job, and he talks about how that Vooch trade was horrible, how it’s hurting them still today; I don’t disagree. When I looked at what position the Bulls got in the draft, and didn’t see them, I realized another draft pick was heading back to the Magic for that Vooch-Wendell Carter Jr trade. Wow. Although I didn’t mind the trade at first, certainly looking back, yeah, bad move. The trade that I instantly hated was when we moved Jimmy Butler for Zach Lavine; I may have mentioned it a couple (hundred) times. I knew then what is quite obvious now; it was a bad, bad move. THAT one is the trade I hate the most. How did the Bulls F that up? Well, I remember…
You see, when Butler was drafted by the Bulls in 2011 30th overall (great pick btw!), he came into a team that was on its way. They just came off a 62-20 record, best in the East during the regular season, coming up short in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat; go figure. Yes, I remember it well; we had season tickets at the time… we went to a whole lot of games. We were there for that Game 1 victory against the Heat as well, the famous Taj dunk over DWade. Losing that year was a due payment as I saw it. When the Bulls came back the next year and did it again, entering the playoffs as the #1 seed in the East, it was our time; Jimmy didn’t play that much. He didn’t start one game his first year with the team. We were rolling until the infamous game with DRose in Game 1 against the Sixers; the trajectory of that Bulls team changed forever that day.
Back to Jimmy, he did play more his 2nd year… still only starting about a quarter of the games. We were definitely intrigued with what Butler brought to the table; we wanted to see more, and from that point forward, we did. Butler was a hard nosed 2 way player; we saw this very early on. And while it’s true that Jimmy had that in him, it’s also true that those Bulls help mold Jimmy… they strengthened him by fire. Buckets turned into a star while in Chicago. Between the hard nosed coach and the guys that put it on the line each and every night during that stretch, Jimmy grew into the player he is now; you could say, he was raised by Bulls… Yeah, I saw an interview on Twitter the other day; it may have been an old one… where Jimmy was talking about those teammates… it’s true.
So, when that team started changing, getting softer IMO, Jimmy didn’t like it. When Thibs was replaced by a roll of Charmin, he didn’t like it. How was Jimmy supposed to play for this team, this coach? He was bursting at the seams with confidence, and may have not gotten good advice from Wade at the time, but Jimmy started to have problems. He started to express himself in maybe not the best way; this was a preview of his T-Wolves/Sixers days… was Jimmy the problem, or was it everybody else? Well, I think we can answer some of that now. Once Jimmy ended up in Miami, playing with some teammates with thick skin, and a respectable coach… it was the right fit. Jimmy has turned into an absolute beast, and may take this Heat team back to the Finals.
Congrats Jimmy; I’m happy for you. Not a Heat fan by any imagination, but… I’d rather have them in the Finals than the Celtics that’s for sure. The fact that Jimmy is there makes it a no-brainer; it’s like seeing one of your kids that you coached when they were young have success. Yes, the Heat and their fans should know who to thank for Jimmy Butler; it’s the Chicago Bulls. You’re welcome, you’re all welcome…
Leave a Reply