There's no doubting that Jimmy Butler has been a positive influence on the Golden State Warriors since his arrival in February, yet the lack of aggressive individual scoring from the 6x All-Star has been a regular and often painful part of his game.
That was again the case on Friday night as Butler was hardly utilized down the stretch, taking just one field-goal attempt in over 10 fourth-quarter minutes as the Warriors fell to a 127-120 defeat to the Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center.
Mid-season trade is the only cure to Jimmy Butler problem
Butler was his usual efficient self in shooting 6-of-11 from the floor, but the Warriors desperately needed more scoring to complement a 39-point performance from returning superstar Stephen Curry.
Time and again Butler has proven to be unselfish almost to a fault, playing facilitator rather than directly taking over games like we've seen at previous destinations and perhaps most notably in the playoffs with the Miami Heat.
The 36-year-old appeared to have a layup after an entry feed with just over a minute remaining. Yet instead of going up with Golden State down one and potentially putting them back in front, Butler kicked it out to a wide open Quinten Post who was almost too wide open and who subsequenly missed the corner three.
That one play almost epitomizes the Butler issue. He gets his teammates open looks constantly with his ability to penetrate the paint, but the Warriors don't necessarily have the reliable role players who can consistently take advantage.
Butler has proven that this is who he is. While it might be frustrating to some and particularly given he's making over $54 million this season, the cure is to surround him with more offensive talent rather than ask him to change what's engrained in terms of making the right play.
Golden State need another legitimate scorer who can not only capitalize on Butler's playmaking, but also just lessen the burden on both he and Stephen Curry. With the talent around the NBA right now, it's almost inexcusable to not have multiple 20-point scorers on a roster, let alone having only two players averaging over 12.5 points per game.
The Warriors have little choice but to make a trade to upgrade the roster, particularly as they sit with a .500 record and with the 22nd-ranked offense in the league. Butler has been huge for Golden State since his arrival, but it's clear that not he and Curry alone are enough to build a good enough offense to reach championship contention.