Westerlund: New Challenge, Responsibility Awaits Jimmy Butler
By Cody Westerlund--
CHICAGO (CBS) – The text message came well before daybreak Thursday in the Midwest, delivered from Buzz Williams' iPhone at 5:11 a.m. on the East Coast, 4:11 a.m. around these parts. It was bound for All-Star wing Jimmy Butler on the day that he inked a five-year deal with the Bulls worth nearly $95 million, money that ensured generational wealth for a 25-year-old who at 13 had found himself homeless for a time in Tomball, Texas.
The text was like so many that Williams – who coached Butler at Marquette and who's now running the show at Virginia Tech – has sent his pupil through the years. It carried a motivational tune, and he especially liked it.
"This one's good, though," Williams insisted, scrolling through his phone to recall it. "This one's a good one."
Starting his day in Blacksburg, Va., Williams had a long day in front of him that included recruiting after his stop at the United Center for the press conference to announce Butler's re-signing, and he wanted Butler to know the hard work he was putting in at all hours.
"Getting my workout in before I leave because I know you're taking the day off thinking you've done something," Williams texted Butler oh so early. "You thought getting a max deal was the game, but the game for real dudes is being one of the top 50 guys ever and being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Those guys wake up hungry to work. Get you some rest. I'll see you in a little bit."
In typical fashion, the gregarious Williams then sent Butler a photo of himself lifting dumbells on an incline bench. The two still talk five days a week by Williams' estimate, and every converation serves as a reminder to the humbler times and how Butler transformed from a junior college player to a high-major standout to a 30th overall draft choice in 2011 and finally into a $95 million man.
"If I don't think about (my past), I'm reminded of it every day because Buzz is up before everybody and literally texts me to remind he's working when I'm not," Butler said. "Like the first thing he said to me (Thursday) was, 'You're still not good' outside the parking lot. Secondly, when we went upstairs, he said, 'Gar (Forman) has signed much better players than you.' And that's just who he is. Buzz will always keep me in my lane, and he always reminds me that your work is how you gain your confidence."
Williams' message was appropriate on a day that will mark a shift in how Butler's judged. From now until he retires, Butler could reiterate that he'll "still be the kid from Tomball" all he wants, but he can never again play the underdog card. Between Butler's contract starting at $16.4 million and Derrick Rose being owed $20.1 million next season, the Bulls will almost certainly have the highest-paid backcourt in the NBA.
The two don't just have to play well. They must mesh at an elite level for the Bulls to have any chance at being a true contender in the East, let alone for a title – a standard that forward Mike Dunleavy on Monday emphasized the Bulls should still be held to.
"We believe in the core of this team," general manager Gar Forman said in response to the Bulls bringing back a near-identical team to 2014-'15 that saw them lose in the second round.
"We don't ever put a limit on what we think we can become."
It falls onto the young and highly paid to lead the Bulls to any lofty standard, and Butler has now entered such a realm. He transformed into a primary scorer in 2014-'15, averaging 20.0 points per game in garnering his first All-Star berth.
Now, the new challenge becomes improving on that without the motivation of a big payday. Thanks to the reminders of Williams and those around Butler, it's clear that Butler still has that individual desire now.
What's more difficult to discern is whether he and Rose can find real harmony on the floor to push the Bulls to another level. The hope for the Bulls is that new coach Fred Hoiberg can infuse the team – notably the offense – in a way that rookie coach Steve Kerr did for the Warriors in their title run last season.
In Golden State, where the best backcourt plays, nearly every movement by Steph Curry was in sync with movement by Klay Thompson elsewhere on the floor, if the sequence wasn't already designed directly with Thompson as a central figure. It's what helped make the Warriors so dangerous.
Butler and Rose need to work in a way that makes both of them -- and by extension their teammates -- dangerous at all times, which wasn't consistently the case last season. And they'll have to do so in a way that doesn't rely on the threat of the 3-pointer all that profoundly – seemingly, the open court beckons, but that only takes you so far.
For both, it will take patience and perhaps sacrificing ego.
"I just have to be who I am – not change and help win games," Butler said. "I think if you win, it doesn't matter how many points you score, how many rebounds you grab. If you get a championship, all that's out the window. That's my job. That's always been my job – to do whatever it takes to help this team win. I'll be the same person."
Time and again Thursday, Butler emphasized Chicago was where he wanted to be all along. For all the speculation that he may pursue a two-year or three-year deal so that he could maximize his earning potential when the salary cap spikes in 2016-'17, Butler said, "No short term (deal) ever came across the table."
He was given a max offer and simply verbally accepted it on July 1, the first day the sides were allowed to have formal discussions. He signed the deal Thursday morning when the league moratorium was lifted. It includes a fifth-year player option.
"This is where I want to be," Butler said. "I love it here for my whole career. So five years is the max I can do, so this is what I decided to do."
Added Forman: "Jimmy never wavered that he wanted to be in Chicago."
With his outgoing persona, Butler's long been one of the Bulls' go-to individuals to market the team. With his deal Thursday, he's now also officially a face of the franchise.
Toward the end of his press conference Thursday on the first day of being paid like a star, Butler was softly reminded that he walked out on the media without speaking after the embarrassing loss to the Cavaliers in May that ended the Bulls' season.
Practically speaking, that action mattered not at all. Symbolically speaking, it wasn't a move max-contract players make.
The spotlight will always be shining now on Butler, making the burden of responsibility larger. Even as he emphasized he's not going to change, Butler recognized the shifting world around him.
"I'm a long way away from Tomball," Butler said.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
