Minnesota Timberwolves Film Festival part 1: Butler-Towns pick-and-roll

The pick-and-roll is the staple of any NBA offense. The Minnesota Timberwolves now have two unique players who figure to excel at this play.

Welcome to part one of a four part series examining the Minnesota Timberwolves most lethal weapon next season: The Jimmy Butler–Karl-Anthony Towns pick-and roll. During today’s edition, I’ll be deep diving into Butler’s ability as a scorer out of the pick-and roll.

When the 2017-18 NBA season rolls around, the Timberwolves will surely roll-out a new weapon. A weapon unlike any Wolves’ fans have seen in Minnesota in quite some time. Maybe ever.

For the past six seasons, Ricky Rubio has dominated the ball and the offense. His insane passing ability brought an unparalleled skill to the table. He typically flashed his great vision and accurate passes in transition. However, he also used his passing powers in pick-and-roll.

Unfortunately, his awful shooting allowed his man to go under the screen. Since he wasn’t able to hit a jumper with any consistency, this allowed the defense to pack the paint and help on the roll man. Effectively, the pick-and-roll offense went to crap because of his poor shooting. Take the following play for example:

This is play is called horns. Rubio brings the ball up the middle of the floor and the two big men set ball screens on both sides. This allows the point guard to choose which screen he wants to utilize. Whichever side he goes to- that big man pops while the other man dives to the rim.

Rubio’s man goes so far under the screen he’s basically in the paint. This gives him the room to pull-up and shoot an open jumper. Although he shot a respectable 42.6 percent on pull-up jumpers last season, his slow release allows defenders time to contest the shot if needed. However, he’s unable to knock this one down which only further reinforces the defense going under the screen.

The draft-day trade for Jimmy Butler will help the Wolves improve in this area. He won’t be tasked with directly replacing Rubio in the ball-handling category. However, he will be a great secondary playmaker and one the Wolves haven’t ever had from the shooting guard position.

According to NBA Math, Butler brings a much higher value in the pick-and-roll department:

A big reason he’s so deadly in this play is his ability to knock down shots off the dribble. His defender must fight to go over the screen. If he doesn’t, the sixth year guard will surely make them pay.

On the following play, the defender doesn’t go under the screen, but instead tries to fight through it. That pushes the defender further out of the play and gives Butler room to attack toward the basket. While his defender is still recovering, the big man doesn’t step up all the way. This leaves plenty of room to knock down the pull-up jumper on his favorite part of the court:

You’ll notice him getting a lot of looks from there next year in a Wolves’ uniform. He took 446 shots from that right side of the floor last season.

Sometimes, the former Marquette Golden Eagle has a propensity for settling for difficult shots. This, no doubt, is why his shooting percentage isn’t as high as it should be. He took 64 percent of his shots with a defender within four feet of him. The NBA considers that either very tight (0-2 feet) or tight (2-4 feet).

On the above play, he gets switched onto a slow-footed Mirza Teletovic after the ball screen. In a moment where Butler has to be drooling due to the matchup, he ends up settling. He had every opportunity in the world to take him to the rack and get a bucket or a foul. Or both! Fortunately and unfortunately, he’s developed a nice array of moves. This has led him to allow on these moves during times when he doesn’t have to.

Butler has turned himself into a very strong and physical player. When he attacks the rim, he is able to use his great upper-body strength to fend off contact. On the below play, you can literally see the 7-foot defender bounce off him and land a few feet out of bounds. Meanwhile, he stays balanced and is able to lay the ball off the glass for an and-1 opportunity.

He also uses his upper body strength to fend off the defense. This an amazing veteran move that shows off his savvy.

After using the threat of the ball-screen, he’s able to get into the paint. He then keeps DeMarre Carroll on his backside, a technique called putting him in jail. Butler then gets all the way to the rim and uses his left hand to scoop in a layup.

This threat of scoring will wreak havoc on defenses across the NBA. Butler has improved each season in the league. It’s scary to envision what he’ll be capable of next season.

Next: 5 reasons the Timberwolves should trade for Kyrie Irving

Tune in to the next edition of Timberwolves Film Festival where I break down Butler’s passing ability out of this play.