The Golden State Warriors added more firepower when they traded for Jimmy Butler. With Bulter, the Warriors had another player to rely on offensively. Finally, Stephen Curry wasn’t alone on offense, who can create shots. It was a struggle for Golden State to look for another option to score the ball. The previous season, the team had Klay Thompson, who was still a productive scorer.
However, the problem with Butler is that he relies too much on his athleticism. When it comes to shooting the ball from long range, he isn’t the most reliable option. In the 30 games he played with the Warriors, he shot only 27.9% from beyond the arc. The six-time All-Star shot a better percentage from deep when he was with the Miami Heat. The forward made 36.1% of his attempts from 3-point range.
Seeing as how his athleticism has started to decline, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes expects him to have a down year.
Hughes published his list of risers and fallers for each NBA team. According to the reporter, he believes that Butler will be the faller for the Warriors, given his evident physical decline.
“If you watched him closely last year, you also noticed undeniable signs of physical decline. He’d routinely get near the bucket and pump fake several times in search of a foul because he didn’t trust his vertical lift. Defensively, he surrendered blow-by drives a little more often than was comfortable,” he wrote.
Hughes predicts that Butler could still be a fringe All-Star next season. However, he reiterated that the star forward is starting to show signs of decline.
Quinten Post is expected to perform better for the Golden State Warriors
While Butler takes the faller spot for the Golden State Warriors on Hughes’ list, upcoming second-year big man Quinten Post is listed as the riser for the team. The NBA reporter was impressed with Post’s rookie season, which is why he believes he’ll continue to be a more productive player.
With the departure of Kevon Looney, he’ll have more time on the floor as the backup for Draymond Green.
“The Warriors obviously won’t put the second-year center on the floor for entire games, but his per-minute production as a stretch big makes it clear he’s going to enjoy a statistical spike as his playing time increases,” Hughes published.
Last season, Post appeared in 42 games, averaging 8.1 points and 3.5 rebounds. He was also reliable from deep and made 40.8% of his shots from deep.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
