after very extensive research, I've concluded that Rasual Butler should be the Rockets primary FA target now that they lost Mike James In my opinion, throwing the full MLE at Rasual could be a worthwhile investment. He recently turned 27, with 4 full years of NBA experience under his belt. He's 6'7" weighs 205 lbs last year: 23.7 MPG .406 FG% .380 3PT% 2.9 Reb .42 Stl .57 Blk According to 82games.com, 83% of his shots were jumpshots, and if you go through his game logs last year, it becomes evident that Rasual's game is catch-and-shoot. I'm not advocating having him as a full-time starter, but I believe that he can be very productive and effecient for the Rockets playing 25 mpg at the SG and SF positions. Last year, Rasual was the 48th most effecient 3pt shooter in the League. Now I know that's no where near to Mike James' 4th ranking, but that's still better than any Rocket on the roster last year. Futher analysis shows his effect on last year's Hornets team. He was the 22nd most efficient 3pt shooter last year when he came off the bench. Most teams have a guy (sometimes 2) who can come off the bench and knock down some shots. The Rockets sorely lacked that last year. In victories, he shot .449 from behind the arc, and in losses only .304. I interpret this as Rasual having a substantial impact of the results of his team. This is further evidenced by his +2.5/100 possessions last year as a Hornet. After the Battier trade, many falsely described Battier as a taller David Wesley. I think Rasual can be a taller, younger, more athletic David Wesley. Rasual Butler may not have the wily veteran mind of Wesley, but his height and 3pt shooting gives Rasual definite advantages within the Rockets system. Defensively, Jeff Van Gundy's system is one of the best (2nd overall in FG%) in terms of overall holding the other team to bad shooting, but one of the worst (25th overall) in 3pt% defense. This is because his trap and rotate style clutters the lane, attempts to cut penetration, and allows a 3pt shot. Well, if it's working right, there will be no open shots, but generally, breakdowns result in more open 3pt shots than open layups. The Rockets lack of backcourt height last year not only hurt them in terms of their smaller guards getting posted up, but the defense becomes much less effective on double teaming big men and traps and recovering to open shooters when you have no height. I firmly believe that a 6'7" man running at a shooter is more of a hinderence than a 6'1" man doing so. I don't know about his defense, but i think his body size allows him to guard both the SG and the SF positions. He has guarded Jason Richardson (blocking a potential game winner) and many other wing players. If signed to the Rockets, he has the athletic tools, and could learn to be a great defender within Van Gundy's system(I know we hoped this about Swift also). Look, I understand that Rasual Butler is not going to be a super Rocket, but I believe that he can play an important role in their sytem. Maybe if Sura comes back, the need for a Rasual Butler type player would be diminished, but the Rockets lack shooting, athleticism, and size from the the wing positions, and Rasual can help. The Hornets now have Stoyacovick, Desmond Mason, and Kirk Snyder signed to play their wings. I've read that they still want to keep Rasual Butler, but I think that if the Rockets offer the full MLE, then NO would not match. It might be overpaying for now, but with the salaries that are being offered out there and for what is left in the FA market, it's a good buy in my opinion. He is the best shooter left on the market and the Rockets can use a guy who can match up with other bench swing players like Stackhouse, Brent Barry, Mike Miller, McCants, Giricek, Tukeyglue, Pietrus, Maggette, James Jones, Posey, Finley etc.
After a very fast and un-extensive look at similar data upon which we chose Battier, I have concluded that the Rockets won't even call his agent.
He's a streak shooter. I've said before that he's a higher percentage Antoine Walker. It doesn't matter if he's covered or open, it just matters whether he's hot or cold that day. That 14.5% differential between wins and losses shooting has got to be the highest in the league, indicating that he's extremely streaky. Antoine shoots 39.5% from 3pt land in wins and 29.7% in losses, but he's probably 4th or 5th in terms of significance on his team.
I've thought about Rasual Butler also, but the only problem is he plays SF. He's not really a SG, he's not quick enough to chase guards around the perimeter. That means we have 3 SF's in McGrady, Battier, and Butler, and none of them can really play defense against SG's. McGrady can't because we don't want him wasting his energy and because of his bad back. Battier and Butler don't have the footspeed.
Rasual Butler? For the full MLE? The guy is a mediocre bench player and a borderline scrub. Maybe for half the MLE, but adding Butler to this team at all helps very little imo.
I like Butler. Before mysynergysports went down I watched a lot of his video breakdowns. He's not just a catch and shoot guy, he can run off screens and move without the ball. He's also a bit stronger and more athletic than at first glance. The only downside is that he's more of a SF than a SG, and he would create a bit of a glut there. And no way would I toss him our whole MLE. He's more like a 3 year 9-12 million guy. There's no reason why we couldn't land him in a sign and trade for part of our TE. For all cash that Shinn has spent this summer, he's still a money conscious owner. He seemingly did the Pacers a huge favor by doing a sign and trade for Peja, thereby giving Indiana a huge trade exception. And what did Shinn get out of the deal? You guessed it, "cash considerations". If we sign and trade the Hornets a pick or something along with some cash, I'm sure they'd definitely do the deal.
I have been saying the whole time, we should bring Rasual butler on board. I would offer him a nice chunk of the MLE. A SnT for the 4.3 TE would be even better! C'mon Rox, bring RAsual to Houston
Oh, no doubt do I believe that this guy at this point in time is just a mediocre player, and streak shooter, but the Rockets need mediocre wing players. I know that reads crazy, but it's true. Unless Bob Sura comes back in full effect, the Rockets still lack wing shooters who can defend wing players. Butler started 20 games last year averaging 11 pts and 4 boards. I'm not saying that he should be a starter here, but he can be a rotation player. And I still don't know why his body type prevents him from guarding SGs around the league. The smaller faster SG's can be guarded by Head (yikes), Alston (double yikes), and JL3 (hmmm)...don't see how Butler playing 25 minutes a night against the likes of Stackhouse, Finley, Barry, McCants, Larry Hughes could be that bad. If you view his game log from nba.com last year, there were many games that he played SG, and even successful at times helping hold Eddie Jones to 0-8 and Jason Richardson to bad shooting. He played with Kirk Snyder (6'6" 225 lbs) and Desmond Mason...it was a 3 man wing rotation. I don't see why he can't do the same here with some decent productivity. He's not perfect, but who else out there has his size and shot and is available?
This guy is just what we need "IF" he can play a little defense. He went 50 out of 108 from 3 playing 15 min a game for miami.
Rasual Butler is off the FA Market http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/15041716.htm (its in there somewhere, that they reached a agreement with Rasual Butler and hope to get him signed next week.) Great, I'm really hating this off-season, Butler was my plan Q.....on to R.
