Nola OKLAHOMA CITY -- Rasual Butler saw no need to complain back in August when he found out the Miami Heat, an Eastern Conference powerhouse, had traded him to the rebuilding Hornets, a team that finished last season 18-64 and at the bottom of the Southwest Division in the Western Conference. In fact, Butler welcomed the trade. For him, it was a chance to achieve several objectives that had been unattainable in his three seasons with the Heat, who behind Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade entered last season's playoffs as the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed before losing in seven games to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals. "You play for a good team like that, everybody has a specific job," said Butler, who joined the Heat as a second-round pick in the 2002 draft. "If you're a guy who shoots well, that's all you do. If you're a guy who passes the ball well, that's what you do. But I saw this opportunity with the Hornets as something different, not just to be a shooting specialist, but having a chance to expand my game." Butler never averaged more than 7.5 points for Miami, nor was he given an opportunity to play extended minutes on a regular basis at small forward In the first two weeks of training camp, Butler has been everything Coach Byron Scott expected. Not only has Butler been able to make mid-range shots, he's been one of the team's best defenders in the frontcourt, and he's quick enough to get out on the break with guards Chris Paul and J.R. Smith to increase their fast-break opportunities. "The biggest thing I like about him is that he's not afraid," Scott said. "That was obvious in the (conference finals) against Detroit when he lit them up. He has a scoring mentality, but he knows how to play basketball. I like his toughness." Source
Heat fan here. I just wanted to share my personal thoughts on Rasual. Personally, I've never been a fan of his game and despise him very much. With that said, I'm being unbiased and will tell you what I didn't like about Rasual. Rasual is a good post defender because of his height but you get him out on the perimeter and it's an easy basket for the guy he's guarding. He also doesn't know when to help on defense. He's got a low basketball IQ. His rebounding is very poor for a SF and a player his height. The Hornets are gonna get beat on the glass with Rasual as their SF. They're better off moving him to SG and bringing in a real SF that can hit the boards. Rasual doesn't pass the ball very much (we called him the Blackhole) and usually will jack it up even when there's a better option available. His shooting is too inconsistant. Some nights he can't be stopped but for the majority of the time he's a 35-40% jumpshooter. Oh yeah, and his signature trademark? He will have 1 solid game and will disappear for the next 20 games. You can book that. If you think I'm being biased cuz I don't like him that's OK. Just remember what I told you when the season starts and watch him closely. You'll see what I'm talking about.
