Fansided

Fantasy Basketball: Can Jimmy Butler Keep This Up?

By Dave Fuqua

facebooktwitterreddit

Jimmy Butler has been nothing short of spectacular for your fantasy basketball team this season. On the season so far, Jimmy is sporting averages of 22 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 steals, .6 blocks and 1 three-point basket a game. This is all before entering the December 29 showdown with the Paul George-less Indiana Pacers where Jimmy dropped 27 points, 9 rebounds (4 offensive), 4 steals, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 threes all while only committing 1 turnover.

More from Fantasy

After the game against the Pacers, there was some buzz going around about Jimmy being a dark-horse for the MVP trophy that teammate Derrick Rose won a few years ago. Of course, that might be a bit over-exaggerated as I am a Bulls fan. Nevertheless, that does not reduce what Butler has been able to do this year. Despite my admitted bias, I really don’t see any reason for Jimmy to slow down one bit.

The Bulls will be smart with Derrick Rose and continue to monitor and limit his minutes. That leaves plenty of minutes for the healthy players. Butler saw 44 minutes in a close game with the Pacers, and didn’t seem to slow down one bit. Jimmy has shown he has strong shoulders and has the ability to carry this Bulls team. With three other huge offensive threats on the court with him sometimes, there just are not enough guys to guard them all the time as Pau Gasol will often demand double teams when he gets the ball in the post.

Butler is averaging 40 minutes per game on the season, and is a safe bet to continue to see that amount of time. Despite this, I don’t really consider him a risk to get injured because of it. At this point, especially with all the hype surrounding Buterl, you are going to have to pay up if you want to target him in a trade. It may be worth it, as I do expect him to keep his current level of production up and maybe even improve his game a slight bit. Feel safe to target him and pay the price if you want to add Jimmy to your team.

If you are a crafty owner, you might even be able to sell his current owner that he is certain to see a down-tick in production as Derrick Rose continues to get healthy. However, I don’t see that happening. If you own Jimmy, sit back and enjoy the ride as he is likely delivering value well above where you drafted him.

Next: What To Do With Bradley Beal

More from FanSided

Home/Fantasy