Jimmy is our #1 now - maybe permanently

[Red8911]

I have confidence in Butler. That he can do more than he's shown.

Yeah the defense might not be there 100% every night, but 24 PPG would not surprise me.

We might be building around this guy regardless what Rose does or not. Obviously we are going to need more help, whether that is Rose coming back and giving something, or making trades in the summer.

But Butler's breakout has given me at least a defense against total despair. This news would be so much more brutal if all we had was 2 more years of Pau, aging Noah, and the kids, promising as some of them are.

Even though jimmy has been awesome, I still dont see him as a #1 go to guy for a contending team.Not sure if he can get even better than what hes already done.Right now its shared between him, rose,pau with rose having more of a responsibility late in games being a pg and taking the big shots.Now if its not rose, theres a problem.Other teams have super stars that can drop 30 easily, jimmy cant be compared to these players like westbrook, harden, curry.His defense is there can be one of best out there, but cant score that easily to put games on his shoulders.

[bullslas]

I still have my doubts about Jimmy. He seems to not demand the ball as much. He needs to come out and take control. Now is the time. I still see Jimmy as the #3 possibly a #2. I hope I'm wrong, if we give Butler the Max, we may be stuck with him.

[RebuildaBulls]

I'd like to see Jimmy take it up one more level, increase his shots and average near 25ppg 5 apg. I know defenses are keying on him now so this is the time he can prove he can handle the pressure

[RebuildaBulls]

I dont mind being stuck with Butler even if his averages drop a little bit. Noah, Taj, Gasol and Rose only have less than 3 years left. Future looks like its Butler, Niko and perhaps Snell and Dougie(?). Plus with the cap increases next few years Butler's contract will seem small

[Wingy]

I heart Jimmy but he's not a true #1, not in the playoffs.

Even Derrick never proved to be that. Miami shut him down when it mattered most, and all of his playoff appearances saw greatly reduced efficiency.

If proving it in the playoffs applies only to guys that have won titles, then we are truly boned, because there are only like a couple of guys proven to that level in the NBA, and most are now well past their prime and diminished. And the other is our top rival, LeBron.

Spurs won a title with Kawhi Leonard and Parker practically tied as their leading scorers. I fail to see how Kawhi's offense is leagues ahead of Jimmy.

You're talking an ECF against a 4 consecutive Finals and 2x champ.

I'm saying, I think Jimmy starts to struggle some in Round 2 as "the man" against pretty much anybody...not a team like the Lebron Heat.

Saying Jimmy could be the guy if we found a Parker/Duncan/Manu to go along with him? You didn't exactly qualify it like that in the OP, and we all know how unrealistic that is. Also, I pointed out in the same post that I could see him/us successful in a 1a/1b scenario if we got another really high caliber player (ie- the Parker/Kawhi scenario you noted).

[Rerisen]

The context wasn't that Jimmy was going to lead us to a title this year, hope no one was reading it that way.

Only that if we have to move on without Rose, or a forever diminished Rose, Jimmy is not an impossible guy to rebuild around.

Now if he never busted out and all we had was NIko and Doug, that would be grim.

[RebuildaBulls]

If we can somehow get Kawhi Leonard to team with Butler on this team Bulls would seriously kick butt!

[Wingy]

The context wasn't that Jimmy was going to lead us to a title this year, hope no one was reading it that way.

Only that if we have to move on without Rose, or a forever diminished Rose, Jimmy is not an impossible guy to rebuild around.

Now if he never busted out and all we had was NIko and Doug, that would be grim.

Agreed, but think the thread title throws people off.

He can definitely be a core piece to a title team, as in, top 2-3 players. I just can't see him being the clear cut guy as a healthy Rose seemed destined to become.

[errisal]

Time for Butler to show that he is truly worth the max. Not that he hasn't already, but there has been a slump in his numbers, which may have cast some doubt. Let's see.....at this point, that's the only thing to look forward to right now....aside from the development of our young guys

He can do it - IF he's healthy.

I don't know if he is.

But Butler and Rose never got working that well together. Both in preaseason and when Rose missed some games, Jimmy had some real big nights and looked good in a bigger usage role.

Now is the time for Jimmy to stop being passive in moments the game needs to be taken over by your most accomplished player. I would love to see Thibs try a lineup with Snell and Jimmy as your guards. Both are capable of bringing up the ball and Pau is a good enough passer and ball handler to keep the ball moving. In moments where the team needs to outscore it's opponents the team needs to be offensive and for me the best lineup for that would be Pau, Niko, MDJ, Tony and Jimmy.