Butler leading league in freethrow attempts
Free-throw numbers are down around the
NBA, but not for Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.
Teams are shooting about 19.9 free throws per 100 possessions this season, which is down from 22 free throws per 100 possessions last season in part because of rule changes recently implemented to eliminate fouls drawn from unnatural shooting motions.
But Butler entered Thursday night’s home game against the Boston Celtics averaging a league-high nine freethrow attempts per game, which is right around the number he averaged in his first two seasons with the Heat. Butler attempted 9.1 free throws per game in 2019-20 and eight free throws per game last season.
“Not at all,” Butler said when asked if he was ever concerned whether the new emphasis on eliminating some foul calls would impact him. “I don’t think that I flop. People actually foul me and if you don’t call it, you don’t call it. I’ll be all right. I’ll just go down there and get a stop, get a steal and get into the open court to make up for it.
“But if they don’t call a foul, I won’t complain. I know that they miss some calls or they’re looking to not call them. That’s fine. It’s just part of it.”
Butler attempted a season-high 17 free throws in Tuesday’s road win against the Dallas Mavericks. The only other player who has taken 17 or more free throws in a game this season is Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden, who has seen his free-throw attempts go down from 11.8 per game in 2019-20 to 4.8 per game this season in part because of the new emphasis among NBA officials.
One reason Butler has continued drawing fouls is because he doesn’t settle for many shots outside of the paint. The biggest drop in shooting fouls this season because of the rule change has come on those called on the perimeter.
That doesn’t affect Butler as much as other wings because 65.5 percent of his shot attempts this season have come from inside the paint. Among the 67 NBA players averaging at least eight drives to the basket per game, Butler has been fouled at the NBA’s fifthhighest rate in those situations at 10.5 percent.
“Jimmy has never been a flopper,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He has never been a guy that’s trying to trick the officials. He’s rugged. He’s physical. But he has a great knack for going through contact. It’s not as if those aren’t earned. Those are mini car wrecks when he’s drawing fouls and going to the line.”
With Butler leading the way, the Heat entered Thursday averaging the third-most free-throw attempts in the NBA at
22.6 per game. And Miami has capitalized on those opportunities with the third-best team freethrow percentage at 84.8 percent to generate 19.1 points per game from the foul line.
“There’s been a lot of narrative about how the rules have changed and everything. We want to be aggressive,” Spoelstra said. “We want to put pressure on teams. We have a lot of attackers, we can do it in different ways. As long as we’re getting to our game and things are in our wheelhouse, I think that will benefit us, regardless of whether we end up getting free throws, regardless of whether we’re necessarily making all the shots.”
NOTHING TO PROVE
Heat sixth man extraordinaire Tyler Herro was again asked about his preseason comments regarding being in the “same conversation” as young NBA stars Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Ja Morant.
Herro said to Bally Sports Florida in the preseason: “I feel like I’m in the same conversation as those guys, the young guys coming up in the league who can be AllStars, superstars one day.
You know, Luka, Trae, Ja. Those guys like that, I feel like my name should be in that category, too. I put the work in, and I’m just continuing to get better every single day. So I got a lot of goals in mind to be an All-Star one day and continue to chase my dreams.”
Does Herro feel like he has to prove he’s on their level?
“I don’t think I have anything to prove,” Herro said Tuesday. “I want to prove it to myself, as well. I put in a lot of work that people don’t see. So I believe in myself more than anybody.”
Herro, 21, entered Thursday averaging career highs in points (22.4), rebounds (six), assists (4.4) and minutes (31.5).
“The biggest strides were happening during the summer, when nobody was watching,” Spoelstra said of Herro. “People are just noticing now from a lot of work that happened behind the scenes. He really prepared and he always does. He has a monster work ethic, but he had a full offseason to really work on his body, to work on his skill level.”