NY Knicks: Analyzing Tom Thibodeau’s history with player development

Thibodeau Player Development: Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler might be Tom Thibodeau’s greatest development story based on the fact that Butler came into the league as an unknown prospect and made significant strides into a star-caliber player. Butler was also Thibodeau’s first first-round rookie as head coach and played for him in both Chicago and Minnesota.

The stigma with Thibodeau is that he does not play rookies much, and that stigma was very much real with Jimmy Butler, who only played 42 games and averaged 8.5 minutes a night in his rookie season. Thibodeau admitted that Butler pestered him to play, but Thibodeau said he needed shooters and scorers, deferring from the rookie.

In his second season, however, Jimmy Butler played all 82 games and averaged 26 minutes a night. The Bulls were without their star in Derrick Rose, and Luol Deng missed significant time, forcing Tom Thibodeau to scramble for minutes to fill. He threw the defensive-minded Jimmy Butler into the fray, and he had his moments, averaging 8.6 points a night. Yet, nobody saw the former 30th pick as anything more than a hard-nosed defender. His offensive game was raw, his jumper was awful, and he had a low usage percentage at 14.6%.

However, Butler started to make a name for himself during the 2013 playoffs as a starter. He played 48 minutes in both game six and game seven versus the Nets in the first round. He had 26 points, 12 rebounds, and ten assists combined, but Thibodeau loved the defense Butler provided.

Butler then had his breakout game versus the 66-16 Miami Heat, where the Bulls stole game one in Miami behind Butler’s 21 points and 14 rebounds. He played 48 minutes that game, his third straight game doing so. He joined Allen Iverson in 2005 and Nick Van Exel in 1995 as the only players in NBA history to ever do that.

Thibodeau was impressed with how Butler handled himself in the playoffs that he became the full-time starter during the 2013-14 season. His usage started to tick up, and Butler became a focal point for the Bulls once they traded Luol Deng and were devoid of scorers.

Yet, Butler was still very raw and needed to improve on his jump shot. The Bulls managed to land the fourth seed but lost to the Wizards in five games, and the lack of scoring was apparent. The Bulls needed Jimmy Butler to take the next step, and boy did he.

Butler took home the Most Improved Player award and posted career-high averages of 20 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. He made the all-star game, and the Bulls started to run their offense through Butler, spiking his usage rate up to 21.6%.

Butler came into the league as a defensive specialist, and that attribute made Tom Thibodeau fall in love with him. In Tom’s final two seasons as head coach of the Bulls, Butler averaged 38.7 minutes per game. That minute surge, comprised of the fact that the Bulls needed some offensive output, gave Butler the freedom to run the offense. He played second fiddle to Derrick Rose, in terms of usage, during the 2014-15 season, but he was beginning to establish himself on offense under Thibodeau.

Thibodeau would leave the Bulls after the 2014-15 season because of tensions with upper management, but Butler had problems with new head coach Fred Hoiberg that he seemingly did not have with Thibodeau. He would eventually force his way out of Chicago in 2017 and was traded to Thibodeau’s Timberwolves. Their relationship was less than ideal, and Butler forced his way out of Minnesota, but still spoke highly of Thibodeau when asked about him landing the Knicks gig, per Nick Friedell:

"“He’s going to do great. He’s going to turn those young guys into some real players; some superstars, some All-Stars,” Butler said of Thibodeau. “I know he’s been itching for this. I know he’s been preparing for it. When you talk about Thibs and the big stage, I think they go hand in hand.”"

It is unknown how much of a role Thibodeau had in developing Butler’s offensive arsenal—jump shot, handle, etc.—but Thibodeau gave Butler the minutes and opportunity to run the team. With young players, that small confidence from the coach can be a driving force in their development.

Butler said this last year when Thibodeau was fired from the Timberwolves (via the New York Post):

"“But like I tell everybody, Thibs is a big part – and you can tell I’m smiling because it’s the truth — of who I am today as a player. He gave me an opportunity after not letting me play at all my first couple of years. But then he saw something in me and he let me rock a little bit.”"

RJ Barrett was thrust into an awkward position this year, surrounded by ball-stoppers and non-shooters. The team did not involve him in the offense as much as they should have, and next year must be different for his development. Knicks fans will undoubtedly hope that Thibodeau can develop Barrett, similar to how he grew Butler in Chicago.