Jimmy is better in the paint, and at attacking the rim-Thompson is a better jump shooter.
Jimmy is also a tougher cover, as he gets his man to foul more frequently.
Right now, I'll take Butler. Higher ceiling, better defender, and a very good scorer.
Nothing to argue about. Butler is a top 5 player to compliment Rose you could select from most of the NBA. The fact that he isn't a high volume shooter, but can create his own shot, and play defense....I mean he is built to play next to Rose, particularly with a Mirotic/Gasol/ or McD on the court as he covers for their defense as well, but they can stretch the floor and make up for his 3 ball, and they are good above the head rebounders, while Butler is a fantastic go get it scrappy rebounder and leaper. This team compliments one another extremely well and that can't be overlooked.
the fact that Thompson can also play some defense and has good length kind of makes this a moot point. Thompson might stretch the floor a bit more, but getting to the rim and taking pressure off Rose is something Butler does a little better. And Butler is the tougher individual. He compliments Noah extremely well and together they set the tone and run the defense, I honestly think Rose is the fourth best defender right now, after Gibson coming off the bench. Its a nice luxury to have a top defender on the bench like Gibson that comes in with the scorers, or just comes in to shut down defense in the fourth.
The only issue with this team is Moore/Hinrich/Mirotic and by the end of season maybe McD warrant more playing time, but nobody ahead of them deserves less. We have too many talents.
The most beautiful bit of luck to me is that we kinda got screwed not being able to retain C.J.Watson, Augustin, or Nate Robinson who all played out of their minds for us in that roll. Well...Brooks is out of his mind. Dude....we got lucky we didn't lose out on a spark plug player to run and gun in scrub minutes. I love that Thibs recognizes his ability and is giving him pairings with Rose and Butler when we go 3 guard. We can give people a wider variety of quality players in totally different schematic formations.
Teams like Memphis are limited and have one scheme. Houston could be tough, but I think a team like us that plays effeciency on both sides will out basketball them in playoffs. Dallas can do things but I don't think they can play big with us if we want to be bullies. Cleveland can't defend yet at all, and it appears they may never win a championship with that trio, may have to let Love walk to us or Lakers. Can you imagine?
We would have to clear Gibson and Gasol, and would not necessarily be better for it in 2016, but 2017 and 2018 and 2019....we will want him.