{"id":555609,"date":"2026-01-23T14:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/555609\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T14:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:25:08","slug":"could-warriors-recreate-injured-jimmy-butler-in-the-aggregate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/555609\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Warriors recreate injured Jimmy Butler in the aggregate?"},"content":{"rendered":"

DALLAS \u2013 Ask Steph Curry, Draymond Green or Steve Kerr the same question, and they would all give you the same answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Is there any person on the team who can replace fallen star Jimmy Butler<\/a>, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL<\/a> on Monday evening?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course not, as Butler\u2019s blend of savvy scoring, versatile defense and underrated playmaking make up a rare package few possess. The 36-year-old averaged 20 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists while guarding every position but center in 38 starts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But on a team as deep as the Warriors, who boast an 11-man rotation, there may still be a way to survive his absence. All they have to do is look to a fictionalized version of a famed underdog team across the Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the 2011 film \u201cMoneyball,\u201d based on a Michael Lewis book about the 2002 Oakland A\u2019s using analytics to thrive despite a low payroll, the team\u2019s brain trust wracks their brains around how to replace departed MVP Jason Giambi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After much discussion, Brad Pitt, the depicter of real A\u2019s general manager Billy Beane, poses the simple query: \u201cWhat we might be able to do is recreate him \u2014 recreate him in the aggregate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of asking one player to match a superstar\u2019s contribution, the A\u2019s asked several players to thrive at one particular aspect of the game, with their collective talents combining to produce similar numbers as Giambi.<\/p>\n

\"OaklandOakland A’s executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane speaks during a press conference on Oct. 5, 2018, at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group<\/p>\n

While Giambi left in the offseason as a free agent signing with the Yankees, Butler is a midseason loss to injury. That shortens the time the Warriors have to create and execute a plan, but it also shortens how long they have to cover for the loss.<\/p>\n

But though basketball and baseball are vastly different games, the Warriors might be able to execute some variation of that tactic on the court. After all, they have the personnel (at least for now) to try it, assuming Jonathan Kuminga\u2019s knee and ankle injuries<\/a> sustained during Thursday\u2019s loss to the Mavericks are not severe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a case where we\u2019re gonna start selling off assets,\u201d Kerr said on his weekly radio appearance on 95.7 FM The Game. \u201cThat\u2019s not the plan, that\u2019s for sure. We think we can be really competitive and play at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga (1) smiles at Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) after making a basket against the Toronto Raptors in the third quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0
\nMaking baskets<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with scoring, where Jonathan Kuminga\u2019s<\/a> ability to put the ball in the basket suddenly becomes far more valuable and his shortcomings a smidge more forgivable, assuming Kuminga is able to play after tweaking his knee in the second quarter of the Warriors\u2019 123-115 loss to the Mavericks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After spending the last two months in Kerr\u2019s doghouse and recently asking for a trade, Kerr was all but required to give Kuminga minutes<\/a> on Tuesday night. He responded by scoring an even 20 in just 21 minutes. Before leaving the Dallas loss, Kuminga had scored 10 points in just nine minutes, and team said that it was not yet decided if he was going to get an MRI.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No, Kuminga will never be the playmaker or all-around defender Butler is, but his mentee is a bucket-getter on the wing and is the only player at the position group who can actually get to the rim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kuminga may not be on the roster for much longer, as the team is still seeking a trade for him, but as GM Mike Dunnleavy said, the market for Kuminga\u2019s services is not robust.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you make a demand, there needs to be a demand on the market. So we\u2019ll see where that unfolds,\u201d Dunleavy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Should Kuminga be out for extended time, that might mean asking Brandin Podziemski to hunt for his shot, or relying on the inconsistent but still dangerous Buddy Hield to let it fly from long range.<\/p>\n

Breaking down defenses<\/p>\n

The playmaking ability Butler brings as a driver could be somewhat recreated by De\u2019Anthony Melton, who has been a revelation since hitting his stride in January.<\/p>\n

Though still limited to about 25 minutes per game as the Warriors remain cautious about his return from ACL rehab, Melton has quickly become the Warriors\u2019 most dangerous threat going to the rim.<\/p>\n

Melton averages 6.1 drives per game, fifth on the team despite the limited playing time. He averages 2.7 shots per game on those drives, which is fourth on the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Warriors\u2019 De’Anthony Melton (8) gets a big congratulatory hand shake from Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in the fourth quarter of their NBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Charlotte Hornets 136-116. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the numbers still undersell the kind of dynamism Melton has shown when attacking the paint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Defensive moxie<\/p>\n

Unlike Butler\u2019s offensive talents, which could be approximated by Melton, Kuminga and more shotmaking by Curry, Butler\u2019s versatile defense cannot be replicated by just one player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will be up to energetic Gui Santos, rookie Will Richard, and the active (if not always effective) Buddy Hield to get stops on the wing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will not be easy, of course. Jimmy Butler is an All-Star-caliber player and a virtual lock for the Hall of Fame. The Warriors felt his absence in their 145-127 loss to Toronto on Tuesday, the day after Butler\u2019s injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s possible to replace the impact that Jimmy has,\u201d Santos said Thursday during shootaround in Dallas. \u201cBut we can also try to do a little bit of what he was doing. It\u2019s going to be tough to say that we\u2019re gonna do that and have the same impact as with Jimmy, but I think we\u2019ve got to figure out how to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Warriors are as deep as Kerr has often touted, they should have the personnel to pull off the Moneyball strategy for a few weeks before the trade deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After that, perhaps a blockbuster deal could make that compensation no longer necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2013 Ask Steph Curry, Draymond Green or Steve Kerr the same question, and they would all give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,159,160,479,164,4025,4024,155,165,6,161,162,163,66,255,158],"class_list":{"0":"post-555609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-golden-state","12":"tag-golden-state-warriors","13":"tag-goldenstate","14":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","15":"tag-inside-sports","16":"tag-latest-headlines","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-peninsula","19":"tag-san-francisco","20":"tag-san-francisco-county","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-warriors","23":"tag-warriors-hq"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}