Los Angeles Lakers: Comparing LeBron James’ season to other top free agents

LeBron James vs. Jimmy Butler

2018-19 Season Averages

LeBron James:

27.4 points | 8.5 rebounds | 8.3 assists | 1.3 steals | 0.6 blocks | 51.0% FG | 33.9% 3PT | 66.5% FT | 3.6 TOV | 25.7 PER | 7.2 WS (Win Shares) (55 games | 35.2 mins)

Jimmy Butler:

18.9 points | 5.3 rebounds | 4.1 assists | 1.9 steals | 0.6 blocks | 46.3% FG | 34.9% 3PT | 85.5% FT | 1.5 TOV | 20.4 PER | 8.0 WS (Win Shares) (64 games | 33.9 mins)

Like DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmy Butler is playing with stars such as Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and is at times only needed to be the No. 3 option on the Sixers. LeBron James, on the other hand, bears the burden of being the No. 1 option on the Lakers each contest.

Where Butler shines is on the defensive end, garnering 0.6 more steals than James, and on the 3-point and free throw lines.

However, James beats out Butler in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, and overall player efficiency.

As far as small forwards go, James is a class above Butler.

Winner: LeBron James