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Assessing Jimmy Butler's impact on surging Warriors

Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler III | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

'Jimmy creates for all of us': Assessing Butler's impact on surging Warriors

By Justin Kim | Last updated Mar 20, 2025 1:16 PM ET

Is Jimmy Butler worth the two-year, $110.9M contract extension the Golden State Warriors gave him following his acquisition from the Miami Heat in early February?

Early returns on the deal for Golden State are extremely positive, with the Warriors going 15-2 with Butler and surging to sixth in the Western Conference.

Let's dive deeper into the 35-year-old's impact on the offense and defense for Golden State (40-29), which plays Toronto at home Thursday.

(All statistics are through Wednesday's play.)

Offense: Jimmy Butler boosts Steph Curry

Although Butler is averaging just 17.2 points with Golden State, 1.1 points below his career average, he is making a major impact on offense.

"You could tell he doesn't really look to score as much," teammate Steph Curry said following a 97-94 win over the New York Knicks on March 15. "[That's] just because he's reading the defense, taking what they're giving him, but having the ball in his hands is usually a good thing."

The five-time All-NBA player's playmaking for others — 6.1 assists per game as a Warrior, 1.8 more than his career average — is noteworthy.

"I love his passing," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said in late February, per NBC Sports Bay Area. "I just feel like every time he puts the ball on the floor and pivots and makes a pass, it’s not spectacular, but it just makes the game flow. And that’s exactly what this team needs.”

Butler's ability to draw double-teams, even when sharing the floor with offensive savant Curry, has opened myriad scoring opportunities for Curry and others.

Following the loss to the Warriors on March 15, New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau's highlighted to reporters Butler's ability to "read the game extremely well."

Warriors forward Draymond Green shared a similar sentiment following the win over the Knicks: "Jimmy creates for all of us."

Jimmy gets Shamet on the cross-match. Knicks defense becomes highly reactive as a result.

Precious on the weak side, splitting the difference between GP2 in the dunker and Post on the wing. GP2's flash to the paint triggers the reaction from Precious. Creates the open look for… pic.twitter.com/EdSPM11uI4
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) March 16, 2025

The defensive attention Butler commands and his ability to put the offense on his shoulders have also lightened Curry's burden.

Before the addition of Butler, the Warriors had an abysmal 103.2 offensive rating with Curry off the floor, last in the NBA. Considering Golden State also led the NBA in clutch games played (16-16 record) before Butler, the scoring droughts in the non-Curry minutes cost it many games that would have been helpful for more favorable playoff positioning.

However, with Butler in the non-Curry minutes, the Warriors are sporting a plus-16.5 points-per-100 net rating, slotting them in the 99th percentile of the NBA.

One factor for the offensive improvement is Golden State's ability to get to the line. Since Butler's arrival, the team is taking 6.4 more free throws per game, going from 14.7 FTM per game to 21 FTM.

Curry has also looked rejuvenated since Butler's addition. In his 16 games with Butler, he has averaged 28.1 points on an efficient 40.4% shooting from three. Before Butler joined Golden State, Curry averaged just 22.7 PPG and shot 38.9% from deep.

Defense: His team defense a plus

The Warriors were a top-10 defense before Butler's arrival. Now they're even better, sporting the second-best defensive rating in the NBA since Feb. 7. Per Cleaning the Glass, in Butler's minutes, Golden State has allowed just 107 points per 100 possessions — good for a 96th-percentile rating.

Butler isn't the game-to-game, point-of-attack defender he once was, but his on-ball pressure, along with his ability to switch and contribute to a team defense, has been sufficient enough to significantly raise Golden State's play.

This was a total team effort. But watch Draymond. He comes up to double. Jimmy pinches in to show help vs. Giannis. He recovers after Draymond recovers. Draymond bottling another Giannis drive gets the ball out of his hands.

Draymond Green has dominated Giannis tonight. pic.twitter.com/EAvOSqqZx9
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) March 19, 2025

Overall assessment

The addition of Butler — "a lion," according to Kerr (h/t: ESPN) — has especially elevated Curry's play and alleviated his burden. When Curry doesn't play, Butler can carry the team on his own. The six-time All-Star has elevated a team that was 25-26 and a fringe playoff team to a legitimate title contender.

BUTLER IMPACT GRADE OVERALL: A

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Justin Kim

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