OKC Thunder TIP3: Dunking With Wolves expert weighs in

TI Q2: Was Butler’s missive directed at KAT?

The addition of Jimmy Butler is paying noticeable dividends offensively and low key defensively.  But, recently he was extremely vocal about Minnesota’s flailing defense. Immediately after Butler’s little rant I pulled up the on-off court stats for the Wolves.

Surprisingly Andre Wiggins (at that time) ranked better on court defensively than Butler. And, when Wiggins sat the Wolves were the worst defensively. After the Wolves game Wednesday I returned to the stats to find Butler has moved past Wiggins in on court defensive differential (slightly), but the Wolves are better offensively with Wiggins on court.

The off court differential is more telling with a drastic change when Wiggins sits.  Minnesota score 101.4 when the shooting guard sits versus 105.8 when Butler sits. The real story becomes evident in the off court defensive stats. Butler and Taj Gibson lead the team (114.8) with Wiggins (114.7)  off court influence, virtually identical.  This fact in it self points to the massive improvement the Canadian has made particularly on the defensive end of the hardwood.  Granted, Butler is now tasked with the more difficult opposition assignment, but his influence on Wiggins is palpable.

Meanwhile, Karl-Anthony Towns continues to be an offensive stud (109.5 on court offense) but is a net zero since factoring in his on court defense (an identical 109.5). Diving into the off court stats punctuates the issue with Towns and potentially explains Butler’s rant.  When KAT sits the Wolves still score at a decent clip (105.4), but Minnesota produce their best defensive effort with KAT off the court (102.6).

Given these stats, do you think Butler was speaking directly to Karl-Anthony Towns? Moreover, how does this affect the team dynamic with Butler speaking publicly and how do you think KAT will respond? 

Sampson offers his thoughts on who Butler was speaking about:

There are three possible options to what these Butler comments meant.

1. As you mentioned, he very well could’ve been talking to Towns. Towns was lauded in the offseason for being a franchise center, but that perception has quickly changed due to struggles on defense. He’s been busted wide open by just about every major media outlet and there’s no hiding his defensive weaknesses.
2. The other likely person he was talking about was Jeff Teague. Teague has struggled mightily to stay engaged on that end of the floor and has given up open looks on the perimeter countless times. Butler made some more interesting comments after Tyus Jones’ first start which caught some attention.
3. We could be looking too much into it. Butler knows his leadership was questioned in Chicago, and I doubt he would do little to jeopardize that notion in Minnesota. Especially this early in his reign. Butler’s always been a brash personality and I’m sure anything he’s saying to the media, he’s saying ten times over to the players in his locker room. So far, nothing appears to have carried over to the court.