Oct. 01--For roughly two weeks this offseason, Doug McDermott set his alarm for 5:15 a.m., only to have his wake-up for workouts interrupted by a seemingly omnipresent presence.
"Jimmy would come in my room at 5 a.m.," McDermott said.
That would be Jimmy Butler, with whom McDermott stayed "at his mansion in San Diego" for a daily dose of double, sometimes triple workouts.
Butler has talked often early in Bulls training camp about becoming a more vocal leader. Adding human alarm clock to his already prodigious two-way talents seems to suggest Butler is focused on not only making himself better but teammates too.
"He looked after me," McDermott said. "That really helped my confidence."
Of course, this leadership matters little if Butler doesn't still bring his hard-hat mentality to both ends, the one that propelled him to his first All-Star appearance and the NBA's Most Improved Player Award last season. In that regard, McDermott joined coach Fred Hoiberg -- who has sung Butler's praises daily -- in hitting the snooze button on thinking Butler's $92 million payday this offseason might change him.
"He's been hands down the best player on the floor," McDermott said. "(Wednesday), he was guarding me and that was frustrating because he was everywhere. He's talking crap to all of us; it didn't feel like he was on our team for a second.
"He has a completely different mindset. He really wants to win. He's worth the money, that's for sure."
A coach can watch game film until his eyes bleed and certainly form an opinion of a player. But until he works with him personally, is in the gym daily with him, he doesn't fully know.
Hoiberg did plenty of the former and now is in the latter situation. Consider him impressed.
"I knew Jimmy was good," Hoiberg said. "But he's been awesome.
"In talking to him, he wants to add to his game. Every offseason, he's in here working on stepbacks, one-footers, runners. His 3-ball looks great right now. He's such a well-rounded player. And when you have a guy who has that type of drive and desire and work ethic, he'll continue to get better."
It's almost laughable to recall Butler's modest goals at the start of last season, when he said he merely wanted to land on opposing team's scouting reports. Following his disappointing first season as a full-time starter in 2013-14, Butler certainly accomplished that.
So what does he do for an encore? What motivation does Butler create for himself now? Not surprisingly, he said he wants to prove to the entire league that last season was no fluke.
"That was my goal the entire summer," Butler said. "I really just want to help us win. I really don't put numbers above everything else. Because if I say a number and fall short, you're probably going to say I suck. I just focus on winning. Stats and stuff, that will come with the flow as I get comfortable in this new offense and with this new coaching staff."
It may be hard for Butler to top his scoring jump from 13.1 to 20 points per game. But don't sleep on him. He put in his typically heavy offseason load to try.
kcjohnson@tribpub.com
