since acquiring Jimmy Butler the Warriors have gone three in one while Steph Curry's been having one of his best stretches of the season with the way Jimmy's bought into Golden State system on both ends of the floor and brought in some new elements of his own I'm not sure they could have asked for a more perfect fit on his first possession as a warrior they ran Spain pick and roll because he's a threat to drive buellis has to step in front of the ball and nobody's chasing buddy healed so he po hops into open space lets giddy fly by and gets an easy triple on the second possession the Warriors ran Jimmy off a cross screen from Steph but as he uses it he recognizes that giddy's fighting over the top so he instead rejects the screen on a back door cut where healed finds him on a lob and finally on the third possession they had Steph set a ball screen for him and he once again rejects it this time driving to the paint and drawing a foul that ability to create downhill pressure as both a rim finisher and foul drawer is maybe his biggest addition to the team in his four games as a warrior he's averaged over eight shots at The Rim every 75 possessions which over the entire season would rank third among noncenters behind just Giannis and Zion Williamson also during those four games he's averaged over 11 free throw attempts every 75 possessions and that would actually be the most in the NBA if he were to keep it up obviously I don't expect the numbers to stay this high but the point is that he gets to the rim and he draws fouls which is two things the Warriors simply didn't have before the trade so a big part of their offensive Focus has been finding ways to create space for Jimmy one way they'll do that is by putting Steph just one pass away in the corner knowing that this Defenders never going to leave him to bring help that means when Jimmy attacks left he has the entire middle of the floor to work with another thing you'll see quite a bit is decoy action on the weak side as Jimmy looks to attack from the wing notice how both Draymond and post get in positions to screen for pky that occupies these two Defenders once again leaving Jimmy with the middle of the floor to work with in isolation not only do these spacing principles make things easier for Jimmy they make things a lot easier for Steph because Jimmy applies so much pressure he's a guy who's often going to draw a rim protector to the paint and while Draymond isn't much of a shooting Threat by quickly handing the ball off to Steph now there's nobody to contest a pullup three sometimes Jimmy's the one actually initiating these actions on this one it looks like they're trying to set up a pick and roll between him and Draymond but with Steph one pass away in the corner he can reject the action to instead set up a handoff then Steph can do what he does best dicing up the defense and getting a bucket in addition to the perimeter game another big part of Jimmy's Arsenal is his ability to attack mismatches in the low post with Draymond playing from up top and a stretch big on the floor the paint is wide open and Jimmy's great at sealing off inside position for easy points at The Rim however more times than not the primary method of creating space for Jimmy is by isolating him in an empty Corner even at age 35 he's got one of the quickest First Steps in the league so when attacking Baseline he basically gets automatic paint touches that means help typically has to come from the weak side leaving a shooter open in the corner and he'll hit that pass just about every time so when you account for the isolation scoring Rim pressure ability to draw fouls and make plays you're left with a guy who can legitimately run an offense and this is a huge deal because before the trade the the team was completely helpless whenever Steph went to the bench now in those minutes they have designated actions they can go to such as an open side isolation for Jimmy and they'll get good results another action they like to run for Jimmy in these minutes is a handoff into a ball screen so that he can turn the corner and attack The Middle on a drive and when turning the corner like this not only is he a threat to get to the rim or the line he's also capable of pulling up for a mid mid-range jumper then because Jimmy can organize and create offense like a number one with the bench the Warriors are able to get more minutes of Steph and Draymond on the floor together we all know just how lethal that pairing can be going back to Jimmy's middle of the floor game though his ability to shoot drive or pass makes him really effective against zone defense the Bucks tried this in their recent matchup but Jimmy was the ultimate counter poris has to step up to take away the shot leaving Draymond all alone in the dunker spot and when Jimmy sets up in the middle poris steps up but there isn't a pass to Draymond he can use all of that space to instead isolate and get to a bucket with all of that said though my biggest concern with Jimmy's fit with the Warriors was the potential lack of spacing Jimmy isn't a threat from the three-point line at all which made me somewhat question his fit with Draymond in the front court but through these four games I've eased my concerns a bit one reason is because Steph continues to prove that he doesn't really need space when he's playing on ball he's often hunting for threes and no amount of spacing concerns can take that away the second reason is because Jimmy's so good at attacking space off the catch that he has to be defended like he's actually a shooting threat take this play for example Prince is comfortable leaving him alone at the top of the key to help down low so when he gets the ball he has a solid 10 ft of space instead of settling for a jumper though he immediately attacks all of that space on a drive and gets to a layup due to the threat of Jimmy attacking space and destroying Closeouts the Warriors are able to spot him up anywhere on the perimeter and the defense can't leave him unattended however they've gotten a bit more creative with his positioning on the floor so he usually isn't spotting up and waiting to play off the catch he spent a lot of time operating in the dunker spot where he isn't just a threat to finish plays but to get on the offensive glass for Second Chance points and because he's a legitimate threat down low he warrants defensive attention when Draymond frees up on a slip notice how Kyrie doesn't commit to the ball leaving him with a wideopen layup the Warriors also have a ton of different methods for creating space one that's worked out pretty well for them is just simply play playing Quinton post as he's been really valuable as a stretch five but I'm more so referring to their offensive strategy and in particular their use of lateral action to create space Steph and Buddy heel both demand attention as movement Shooters so by starting Jimmy on the ball having him run off a screen from Steph only to hand it off to heal and set a screen himself the defense is forced into a tough position where everyone has to be out on the perimeter that lateral action could also start away from the ball Jimmy's often running the offense like a point guard and the Warriors Force the defense to defend multiple spots at once not only is heeld coming off a pin down from Draymond step's running off a pin down from Moody that's two highlevel movement Shooters you have to worry about and he'll make the right decision of course they can also reverse this and have Draymond run the point while Jimmy screens for Steph and notice how with this offensive setup Lopez is forced to step out to the perimeter while nobody's in position to protect the paint that's how you space the floor with two non-sh shooting threats more times than not if draymond's initiating and Jimmy screening that means Golden State's running their Infamous split action and there's no coverage in existence that effectively limits both of these guys not only do you have to worry about step curling into open space for a three you have to worry about Jimmy exploding on a back door cut and if the defense tries to limit both of these options by simply switching now Jimmy has one of those mismatches he loves to attack so he'll immediately establish that inside position to either score or draw a foul in addition to screening out of split action the Warriors have also utilized Jimmy quite a bit as a screener on the ball where he's pretty dangerous as a roller because he's so good at timing up his slips he often finds himself with great positioning in the paint where he can get up and finish or he can make quick decisions out of the short rle so in these spots they'll put Draymond in the dunker spot knowing that if a rim protector steps up to slow Jimmy's momentum he'll continue to create easy opportunities the total offensive impact is a complete Game Cher Jimmy brings a much needed on ball presence that not only takes pressure off of Steph it gives them an actual number one option with the bench unit but away from the ball he's a perfect fit within the motion offense because of his ability to operate anywhere on the floor and his willingness to screen roll crash the glass basically do all of the little things but his impact doesn't stop there he's also been a big time addition to the defense I've actually been really impressed with his man-to-man defense in the past couple of Seasons it's been pretty shaky but he's clearly bought into that role a lot more with golden state the roster lacks capable point of attack Defenders and he's been the guy to take on the task of matching up with opposing creators and either pressuring the ball or fighting through screens to take away their space then because of his size and strength he also has some switch ability so when needed they can throw him on a bigger Wing or even a post up big where he'll offer some real resistance with that said though Jimmy's superpower as a Defender is his positioning anticipation and timing as a help Defender which has been on complete display Draymond is the king of help defense his mind when paired with his ability to cover ground allows him to make plays that quite literally no other player in NBA history can make but one of the closest things we've seen to that is Jimmy Butler's own off ball defense and those two roaming the floor together has been a thing of beauty just watch Jimmy on this play when Vu goes to work in isolation he patiently waits for him to turn his head in the opposite direction and as soon as he does he jumps into the play with a late double and forces a turnover here's another example he's matched up with a shooter on the wing while Dame draws two defenders in the pick and roll Jimmy knows the short roll pass is coming and patiently waits for the perfect moment to pounce at the ball he's not afraid to take risks and be aggressive going for steals but because of his timing it feels like he's never out of position and so he's one of those guys who feels like he's always in the right spot when Dame tries to drive middle he's parked at the nail and just that subtle play forces the offense to reset thanks to his off-ball genius and versatility as a man defender in unison with draymond's own defensive Mastery the Warriors have been running a lot of small ball and these lineups have been really tough to score on during these minutes they'll switch literally everything everything it doesn't matter if you get Steph Curry in the post they won't give up a numbers advantage and always want to have a body in front of the ball of course the switching leads to some favorable isolation matchups for the offense so another thing they'll do is always send a weak side Defender over early to help once again you see the impact of having both Jimmy and Draymond on the floor together the advantage of these smaller lineups is that they're always going to be faster than the opposing team so with somebody always in position to help they can rotate to not let the ball get to the rim that really stands out whenever the ball gets enter to the post you can't leave Steph one-on-one with Vu so they're always going to send a double from the weak side but because of that speed they can scramble out of the double to Perfection not giving up any good looks from three or potential driving Lanes thanks to Jimmy and Draymond both having such a big presence as rors they're able to simulate the value of a big rim protector through positioning and timing you don't have to worry about altering layups and dunks if the offense never even gets close enough so on the defensive side of things I do still worry about Golden State's ability to handle Elite guards due to the lack of point of attack Defenders and against a guy like jic they don't really have much to throw his way but against any other offense even in the playoffs the lineup versatility jimm he brings to the table and his ability to make plays on the ball does make a huge difference when paired with how he fits on offense and helps unlock more of Steph's game there's no doubt in my mind that this was an absolute home run of a trade for the Warriors and they may just be a little bit better than we thought if you enjoyed this breakdown make sure to drop a like subscribe and turn my post notifications on to be first on more content if you're interested in my more in-depth research make sure to check out the hoop venue podcast and my social media profiles you can find those links in the description feel free to let me know down in the comments what you think of the Warriors as always I hope you all have a great day and I'll catch you guys in the next one