A Tyus-led offense has meant more playmaking by Jimmy Butler

While Jeff Teague has been out, Tyus Jones has done an outstanding job starting at point guard for the Timberwolves. But the biggest change has been the uptick in Jimmy Butler‘s playmaking over the past few games.

I’ve been calling for Jimmy Butler to have the ball in his hands more often for a while now.

And not just the wing isolations; we can do without those in nearly every scenario. I’m talking about outside the arc, initiating the offense. And since Jeff Teague’s injury, Butler has been forced into more of a playmaking role for the Timberwolves.

Let’s not get things jumbled here, though: the Wolves are just 2-2 since Teague went down, losing a pair of home games to inferior teams in the Miami Heat and a John Wall-less Washington Wizards squad. But the offense has generally looked smoother and crisper than it did in the games just prior to Teague’s injury.

(Related: I’m not calling for Tyus Jones to start over Teague upon the veteran’s return, nor am I suggesting that the Wolves are better without Teague. This is simply a look at how an unfortunate injury could ultimately help the Wolves figure out a potential solution for a more efficient offense moving forward. Their hand was forced, etc…)

At any rate, the Wolves offense has seen better ball movement over the past few games, save for the disastrous end of the Wizards game on Tuesday when each and every Timberwolf was clearly gassed. Overall more Butler-initiated offense means more dynamic playmaking.

Consider this wing dribble-handoff between Butler and Taj Gibson.

It won’t always be this easy; E’Twaun Moore hardly bothered to try playing defense here. But this type of action, combined with Butler’s point guard-like passing ability, opens the floor up quite a bit. Pause the video at the :03 mark. Gibson could have passed the ball back out to the perimeter for an open 3-pointer if he didn’t have an open shot in the paint. There were plenty of options available, and Gibson ultimately scored a bucket from the paint.

Below is a typical dribble-handoff from inside the arc at the top of the key. Karl-Anthony Towns gets just enough of the defender on his screen that it allows Butler to take a mostly-open jumper.

Not having Jeff Teague has caused the Wolves to run more of these dribble-handoff plays than normal.

Even Andrew Wiggins is getting into the distribution game, throwing a beautiful pass back to Gorgui Dieng on the wing in the below clip. Wiggins had made a ton of shots in a row in the third quarter of the New Orleans game. Here, he takes advantage of two defenders following him into the paint to kick the ball out to a solid mid-range shooter in Dieng.

Back to Butler. The initial premise of the pre-Teague injury article that I wrote was regarding the pick-and-roll game. Let’s get to a couple of quick examples of just how well Butler commands the offense, and how comfortable he is when running screen-and-rolls with old friend Taj Gibson.

Here, Butler ignores Gibson’s screen and takes both defenders with him towards the baseline. The Wizards defender at the free throw line stunts towards Taj but doesn’t follow him. Butler is patient enough to deliver the pass just when Gibson is in deep with single coverage from Marcin Gortat. (The fact that Butler was credited with an assist here is a bit generous, but it was an outstanding pass nonetheless.)

Next, Butler once again ignores Gibson’s screen. Instead he methodically probes into the paint, opening up a bevy of options. He could force a pass to the rolling Gibson, which may drawn a foul on Gortat. Or, he could stop on a dime and kick the ball back to Jones in the corner.

In stead, Butler turns and finds a wide open Towns beyond the arc. KAT buries the triple, and it’s another successful Butler-led possession.

The numbers still don’t quite bear out just how potent this play-type should be; Butler’s points per possession when cast as the ball-handler in pick-and-roll stands at just 0.68, although it’s ticked upwards in Teague’s absence. Butler and his teammates are getting more comfortable with each other, and the numbers are beginning to show just that.

At the end of the day, it’s best to get the ball into Butler’s hands as much as often. Both Jones and Teague are solid spot-up shooters (Teague is still shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range this season), and initiating the pick-and-roll between Butler and Gibson allows KAT, Wiggins, and whomever the point guard is to space the floor, move the ball, and convert the Wolves offense into a much more dynamic version of itself.

Next: Behind the scenes of the Timberwolves offense

Once Teague returns (and it could be as early as Friday night in Oklahoma City), keep an eye on how often the Wolves are using Butler to initiate their offense. If it’s only in isolation sets at the end of games, then, put simply, they aren’t doing it right.