The Jimmy Butler trade sparked the Golden State Warriors last season, but in the team's last two games the veteran forward [hasn't been as aggressive](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6892819/2025/12/16/jimmy-butler-warriors-offense-more-aggressive/) as the team is going to need him to be if they want to be real contenders.
Butler has [been willing to be a good teammate](https://bluemanhoop.com/warriors-have-painful-jimmy-butler-problem-with-only-one-possible-cure) this season and has an innate sense for getting the ball to the open man. He is a great facilitator which is a great tool to have, but Butler can, should and needs to be a scorer on this team.
Warriors simply need Jimmy Butler to do more offensively
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Just look at the game against the Chicago Bulls two Sundays ago. Butler played his first game after missing several due to injury and played great, scoring 19 points in 29 minutes while making 5-of-10 shots from the field.
However, in crunch time during the fourth quarter when the Bulls were eyeing a charge back into the contest, Butler stepped up and drilled two huge 3-pointers to essentially seal the game and help build an insurmountable lead.
Sure, Butler has never been a big 3-point shooter and he definitely seems more comfortable dishing the ball out to better shooters behind the arc. Yet at this point in the season with the Warriors sitting at 13-14, the 6x All-Star simply has to start doing more.
He has the tools to do it. Butler can drive to the rim and is great at drawing fouls to get to the free-throw line, while also possessing a solid mid-range jumper that he can lean upon. Golden State need him to start taking control more often when he has the ball in his hands, and that means putting up more shots.
It has always been a struggle to figure out who can provide consistent offense when Stephen Curry is off the floor, but Butler has to be part of that. The Warriors are paying him north of $50 million per season which is too much to pay for a facilitator.
If it means going against some of the offensive system that head coach Steve Kerr likes to employ, including the ball cycling around multiple hands over the course of a possession, and instead turning to more isolation looks for Butler, that is what the team needs to do.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and while many people may have thought Butler's scoring would not be an issue coming into the season, it may now be the difference between the Warriors getting to the playoffs or not.