Originally Posted by
new city champ
Hope they keep Butler around as well. You can say it's all Summer League hype and none of it translates to the NBA, but just last year we saw two guys on the Pels--Herb and Jose--make a big impact during the season when most had them slotted for the G-League, at most.
Butler is younger and rawer than those two guys, who came after four years of college ball. But to pretend you can say with certainty that he can't be an NBA player at 7' with his skills strikes me as even more hyperbolic. His body isn't ready, but he'd be going into his sophomore season of college next year, so that's hardly surprising. Butler's build reminds me a lot of John Henson who played for UNC and had a long pro career. Henson was well under 200 pounds as a 6'10" college center, but was still a defensive presence and an eventually a first round draft pick. He never really did put on a lot of weight, but he was in the NBA a long time as a valued role player and Butler already shows far more offensive potential than Henson ever did.