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The NBA today announced its All-NBA teams. And for the first time since the Big Three era, a Miami Heat player made the cut.
Jimmy Butler won the All-NBA third team honors, receiving 32 votes from the second team and 51 votes from the third team. Butler previously made the All-NBA third team in 2017 and 2018.
During the regular season, Butler averaged just under 20 points per game on 9.1 free throw attempts per game, a career high. Butler also averaged six assists per game, the highest of his career, frequently operating as Miami’s de facto point guard in a starting lineup without Goran Dragic.
In this current playoff run, Butler has increased his production to 21.2 points per game and 10.2 free throw attempts. He is also shooting about two 3-pointers per game and hits 52.4 percent of his attempts. During the regular season, Butler also had two 3s per game, but only made 24.4 percent from deep.
Of course, a lot of people will look at that list and wonder how Pascal Siakam got to the All-NBA Second Team over Butler. Siakam fought mightily in Toronto’s second-round loss to the Boston Celtics, shooting just 38.2 percent overall and 12.5 percent (4-of-32) of 3 in the seven-game series.
Bam Adebayo received 26 votes from the third team, but missed the cut. Both Butler and Adebayo were part of the All Star team this year.
