Jimmy Butler is lighting it up in the NBA Summer League

One of the reasons the Bulls were willing to let Ronnie Brewer walk out the door — besides the fact that it saved them millions of dollars — was because management believed Jimmy Butler could effectively replace him.

They may have been right and then some.

The Bulls may be 0-2 in NBA Summer League play, but Jimmy Butler has been fantastic.

In this year’s Summer League debut — a 79-74 loss to the Boston Celtics — Butler led the team with 25 points by going 7-for-16 from the field and 10-for-12 from the line. He also added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.

Said Butler: ”I was just trying to stay aggressive and by me being aggressive hopefully my teammates would take after that and start to be aggressive too. I feel like if you play nervous — and I was too at some point in time — but I tell them, it’s basketball, you’ve been doing this for how ever many years you’ve been playing, this is what you love to do, so go out there and play hard.”

The Bulls’ second Summer League game — a 96-88 loss to the Houston Rockets — was more of the same. Butler scored 24 points by going 6-for-11 from the field and 11-for-12 from the line. He again grabbed 7 rebounds.

Two games in, Butler is fourth in the Summer League in PPG (24.5), trailing only San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard (25.0), Portland’s Damian Lillard (26.0) and Memphis’ Josh Selby (27.5).

12 Responses to Jimmy Butler is lighting it up in the NBA Summer League

  1. starr365 July 19, 2012 at 11:15 am #

    If he could average 10-12 pts/gm that would be huge.

  2. jeffreythompson2@sympatico.ca'
    JT's Hoops Blog July 19, 2012 at 12:37 pm #

    Butler will certainly have an opportunity to shine next season considering the fact the Bulls have basically let go of their entire second unit save for Taj Gibson. Watson is Brooklyn bound, Korver’s in Atlanta, Asik is most probably headed for Houston, Lucas to Toronto, and who knows where the hell Brewer will be?

    Really, I’m seriously asking: where the hell is Ronnie Brewer? I don’t remember seeing anything about him parting ways with the Bulls either by trade or buyout. can someone give me the 411? TYVM

  3. rahl@hotmail.com'
    keith July 19, 2012 at 3:05 pm #

    brewer did not get his option picked up and has yet gone anwhere. was told by management he could come back at a reduced rate but he said he will shop around to see what he can get.

  4. Dupri24 July 19, 2012 at 3:15 pm #

    Ronnie Brewer is set to sign with The Timberwolves

  5. Inception July 19, 2012 at 9:55 pm #

    Unfortunately, Rose’s bad knee is driving out the mob squad…if he was healthy, i’m sure most of these players would sign for less.

    If Butler can keep this up into the preseason, CHI might have their breakout bench player a la Taj Gibson.

    remains to be seen….

  6. bullychicago6@yahoo.com'
    BullySixChicago July 20, 2012 at 9:06 am #

    I don’t know how what Butler is doing should surprise anyone. Apparently those who are surprised did not see him play at Marquette or the ability he showed in the limited minutes last year.

    It does not surprise me, watching him last season and some of the moves he showed made it easier to see he has some offensive skills and secondly he hits his free throws.

  7. bob.edwards47@yahoo.com'
    BoppinBob July 22, 2012 at 10:57 am #

    Could the future bench mob be C Nazr Mohammed, PF Carlos Boozer, SF Thomas, SG J. Butler, PG Teague, with Vlad Rad at the end of the bench as designated 3-pt shooter? Could be interesting. Open the season with PG Capt Kirk, SG Hamilton, SF Deng, PF Gibson, C Noah as the starters.

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Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Ronnie Brewer is heading to New York » By The Horns - July 24, 2012

    […] Jimmy Butler’s stellar play in the NBA Summer League and the team’s other signings and proposed signings (Kirk Hinrich, Marco Belinelli, Nazr […]

  2. Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes » By The Horns - August 7, 2012

    […] shooting 40.5 percent from the field, but did average 10.9 points per 36 minutes, which is solid. And after his great summer league, expect him to build on his rookie year, with his expanded […]

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