Dwyane Wade's absence could make Bulls star Jimmy Butler even better

Butler said he likes the challenge of trying to win without the veteran

Shortly after the Chicago Bulls announced Dwyane Wade would miss the rest of the regular season with a fractured elbow, the future Hall of Famer acknowledged that star Jimmy Butler would have a bigger burden. With less than a month left in the season, the Bulls are 32-36 and 10th in the East, a game back of both the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat. As they try to finish strong and salvage this mediocre season, Butler will be leading them. 

“It’s not nothing he wanted,” Wade said Thursday, via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “It’s not nothing that anybody in here wanted. But it’s something we have to deal with. My job is for [Butler] to not worry about me. Just focus on what Jimmy needs to do and that’s to go out the last 14 games of the year and kick ass and help lead this team to the playoffs. It’ll be an even better story with me out of it. It’s a challenge for him. And I look forward to see how he rises to the challenge.”

Butler echoed Wade on Friday, via the Chicago Tribune: “Obviously, it’s a bigger challenge because of all D-Wade does for us. But I like challenges.”

There are reasons for Chicago to be concerned. With Wade out, it has less playmaking. Defenses can theoretically zero in on Butler more when he has the ball. Coach Fred Hoiberg won’t have the luxury of making Wade the primary playmaker when Butler is on the bench. All of this, however, might not matter as much as the fact that Butler has been significantly better without Wade this season. 

Here’s a look at Butler’s stats with Wade on the court and on the bench:

	Offensive Rating	Defensive Rating	Net Rating	TS%	USG%	AST%	REB%
Dwyane Wade on court	104.9	105.7	-0.8	56.0	22.7	20.3	8.3
Dwyane Wade on bench	106.8	102.0	4.8	58.8	30.7	26.5	10.1

The slight improvement in Butler’s assist rate and rebound rate is true of the team in those minutes, too. Essentially, Chicago has been at its best this season when Butler has been forced to do more. If this holds up, then Wade’s absence might not actually hurt the Bulls’ chances of getting the eighth seed. It could help significantly. 

All of this reflects a larger development in Chicago: Butler’s transformation into a true superstar. Despite his team’s inconsistent and frustrating season, a result of the front office assembling a hodgepodge of players that doesn’t fit together, Butler has played the best basketball of his career. If he was surrounded by shooters instead of players who take the ball out of his hands, maybe he would be an MVP candidate.

In August 2015, Butler said he thinks he’s a point guard. The comment raised eyebrows at the time because of the presence of Derrick Rose and reports of tension between the two of them. Since then, though, he has proven that he was ready for more offensive responsibility. He has become not only a versatile scorer, but an effective passer out of the pick-and-roll. I would love to see the Bulls empower him the way the Houston Rockets did with James Harden this season -- just give him the ball, space the floor and let him create. Chicago’s roster is too flawed to offer Butler that kind of situation now, but Wade’s injury could make the team at least move in that direction.