A look at Jimmy Butler’s impressive season, and why some believe it has been overlooked

Jimmy Butler’s positive impact on the Miami Heat is undeniable.

The Heat entered Saturday night’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum with an 11-3 record since Butler’s postgame rant following Miami’s April 16 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But Butler’s importance to the Heat extends far beyond his words during a postgame media session.

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The Heat entered Saturday with a 6-12 record in games that Butler has missed this season and a 33-19 record in games that he has played in. Coincidentally, Butler’s missed Saturday’s game in Milwaukee because of lower back tightness.

The Heat has outscored opponents by 5.2 points per 100 possessions when Butler has been on the court, and opponents have outscored the Heat by 6.2 points per 100 possessions when he hasn’t been on the court this season for an off/court net rating differential of 11.4 points.

Butler, 31, is also in the middle of arguably the best season of his NBA career, entering Saturday averaging 21.5 points on a career-best 49.7 percent shooting and career-highs in rebounds (6.9), assists (7.1) and steals (2.1). He is one of just six players in the NBA this season averaging at least 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists — a list that includes Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Brooklyn’s James Harden, Los Angeles’ LeBron James and Washington’s Russell Westbrook.

Despite all of these impressive numbers, is Butler being overlooked in the NBA awards conversation? There’s a case to be made that Butler belongs in the MVP discussion, and he’ll certainly receive All-NBA and All-Defense consideration.

“Right now, I would say so,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the Heat closing the regular season on Sunday night against the Pistons in Detroit following Saturday’s game against the Bucks. “But I think all the individual recognition, I think we were probably overlooked for the first half of our season when we had a lot of our guys out and we weren’t performing and playing at the level that was expected.

“I think if we had a complete year and a full year and health and everything, yeah Jimmy Butler, in my mind, has to be in that conversation for MVP. I think his game is just continuing to grow, that’s as a winner, as a throw back player. A guy that really impacts the game on both ends of the court. He truly does, it’s not just talk. He has as much of an impact on the defensive side as he does the offensive side.”

A look at some of the advanced metrics confirm Butler’s incredible importance to the Heat.

According to NBA.com’s player impact estimate formula, which measures a player’s overall statistical contribution against the total statistics in games they play in, Butler has made the fifth-biggest impact among players around the league this season. Only Philadelphia Joel Embiid, Jokic, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and James rank ahead of Butler

Butler also ranks fifth when calculating individual impact using Basketball Reference’s player efficiency rating formula. Jokic, Embiid, Antetokounmpo and New Orleans’ Zion Williamson are the only ones who rank ahead of Butler.

“I always said that he plays with such ease. He’s manipulating the game, he can get whatever he wants and he reads the game so well,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said of Butler. “What the team needs at that certain point of the game, he’s going to get it. He’s a two-way player. He guards the best players on the other team, he’s doing everything on offense. I agree, he should get some rewards. But we all know Jimmy, the only thing he’s interested in is winning and trying to get that championship.”

Butler was recently asked about his approach entering games after he attempted just one shot in the first half of the Heat’s May 9 win over the Boston Celtics before going off for 22 points on 13 shots in the second half. His answer provided a glimpse into what makes Butler such a unique star.

“First off, I’m not just an offensive player so I couldn’t care less how many points that I score,” Butler said. “My job is to help win games. That’s on both ends of the floor. When my guys are open, I will always throw it to them, especially when they’re cutting and you got guys open at the three. It just makes my job easier later on. But a win is a win, man. I couldn’t care less if I shoot the ball zero times next game, I’m just out here to win.”

Butler’s bruising game predicated on getting to his spots in the paint and midrange while also generating free-throw attempts doesn’t produce many jaw-dropping highlights. But the results it produces are elite.

“He’s one of those guys that I’ve noticed over the course of time that unless he’s on your team or unless he’s on a team that you have to watch every single night, it’s going to be hard for you to really appreciate just kind of seeing it every now and then,” Butler’s agent Bernie Lee said. “So if you’re on a team that plays him two times a year, you think to yourself: ‘Well, man, this is a guy that played two pretty good games. He’s a pretty high IQ guy. Maybe these were the two games that happened against my team.’

“Because he’s not the guy that his highlights are going to be on SportsCenter, he’s not shooting threes from half court, he’s not doing eight and 12 dribble combinations. He’s not dunking over the entire opposition. He doesn’t do stuff like that. But he’s a guy where if he’s on your team for 82 games a year, you realize night in and night out that he does the exact same thing that those people are experiencing the one or two times they see him every year. He does it every night that he plays.”

BAM FOR DPOY?

Heat center Bam Adebayo is also part of the NBA awards conversation. He’s in the Defensive Player of the Year discussion, and will receive All-NBA and All-Defense consideration.

Adebayo has campaigned for himself in the Defensive Player of the Year race during recent interviews and the Heat recently began a social media campaign for Adebayo with the hashtag, #BAMDPOY.

Spoelstra was asked following Thursday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers if Adebayo should be named this season’s Defensive Player of the Year, and this was part of his response: “Why don’t you guys say that? I know what Bam’s value is. This is probably where I’m most awkward in this position. Am I supposed to promote and market? I just think Bam is one of the ultimate winners in this league. We haven’t won the ultimate trophy with him. But he has all of the qualities and makeup of a champion. ... He’s doing it on both ends. I’ll let you guys make that case. I don’t know how that all gets worked out. I know it’s a voting process. But he impacts the game on both sides of the floor in a great way.”