By James Herbert / NBA writer
January 06, 2016 10:32 AM ET
Jimmy Butler has
clearly emerged as the
Chicago Bulls' No. 1 option, and it sounds like
Derrick Rose is OK with this development. Two days after scoring 40 points in a half, Butler led the team with 32 points on 11-for-21 shooting and 10 assists as the Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 117-106 on Tuesday, their fifth win in a row.
"The way Jimmy is playing, the patience he is playing with, you can tell the game is slowing down for him," Rose said,
via Bulls.com's Sam Smith.
"It's fun to see, exciting; I'm happy for him. For a player like him to come into the league and for him to improve the way he is improving and for him being on my team it's good. I don't really have to do too much when I am out there because he's taking great shots and he's making the right plays.
"Jimmy's been playing unreal right now," Rose continued. He's ballin'. So keep going to him until he doesn't want the ball anymore. Me and Jimmy, I think we are very dangerous out in the open court. Throw in Niko, a three-point shooter, Doug (McDermott), Tony (Snell). How are you going to stop us when you have three-point shooters around us?"
There has been
all sorts of drama around this team, and lots of talk about
the relationship between the two guys in the backcourt. Rose was once undeniably the franchise player and the most popular man in Chicago. Butler signed a five-year, $95 million contract last summer and then
declared he was a point guard. While Butler made his name as a defensive player, you can now run an offense through him. It's easy to figure out why that might make things awkward for Rose, who is not producing like the player he was before numerous serious knee surgeries.
The best thing for Rose to do is allow Butler as much room as possible to make plays. He's totally right when he says he doesn't have to "do too much" right now, and it's great he's thinking that way. For the Bulls to be successful, Rose needs to try to figure out how to play off Butler and put him in good positions to score. Sometimes that might mean essentially letting Butler play point guard and run pick-and-rolls over and over again.
What remains in question is whether or not this long-term pairing makes sense. Rose has historically been most effective with the ball in his hands, and it's become obvious that Butler deserves to use a huge chunk of Chicago's possessions. These comments are encouraging, but it's easy to say this sort of stuff when you're on a winning streak. Let's see what everybody in the Bulls locker room says if they drop a few games in a row.
bamainatlantaYou wake him up, you keep him up