BR gives Utah Jazz rookie Jared Butler an F grade
Recently, Bleacher Report published an article assigning a letter grade to every team’s most significant player under the age of 24 for their performance in the 2021-22 season so far, and they were not generous towards the Utah Jazz.
Rookie Jazzman Jared Butler received an F for his performance to date. We’ve highlighted Butler’s talent on numerous occasions, and we’ll die on that hill if need be. Having said that, it’s hard to argue with Bleacher Report’s logic.
Does Utah Jazz rookie Jared Butler deserve an F?
As Bleacher Report pointed out, Butler has “logged more personal fouls than points, rebounds or assists in his limited minutes”. Those numbers don’t lie. The article goes on to identify Butler’s grisly 1/12 accuracy from the field over the first six games of his career.
Previously, we’d identified Butler as a “stud” in his performance against the Houston Rockets. Even still, we noted that Butler “was a whirling dervish against the Rockets; admittedly, not always for the betterment of the Utah Jazz”.
Butler deserved credit in that game for his energy alone. His final statline of 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers was indicative of everything he displayed in that game.
He’s young. He’s raw. He’s talented, and he’s willing to work as hard as anybody on the floor. He’s also, at this young stage in his career, prone to error.
Utah Jazz fans need to resist any impulses to begin drafting any letters to any editors. As Bleacher Report themselves acknowledge, “The Baylor product was a great value pick at No.40, and he’s shown he can play at a much higher level against NBA competition”. Butler will have every opportunity to demonstrate that as the season progresses.
Next. Does this Jazz player have a future with the team?. dark
Expectations for any rookie should remain firmly tethered to reality. Bleacher Report’s article is clearly not intending to make any commentary on Butler’s long term ceiling. We’d probably be a little more generous and give Butler a D- on the strength of his spirited performance against the Rockets. However, regardless of any letter grade, Utah Jazz fans should know that better things are on the horizon for Jared Butler.