{"id":557737,"date":"2026-01-24T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/557737\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T13:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T13:00:53","slug":"warriors-intend-to-keep-jimmy-butler-despite-season-ending-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/557737\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors intend to keep Jimmy Butler despite season-ending injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Warriors\u2019 plans are starting to crystallize following Jimmy Butler\u2019s season-ending injury, and they involve holding onto the six-time All-Star.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources familiar with Golden State\u2019s direction indicate the team is committed to building around Steph Curry and Butler, when he returns from surgery to repair his torn ACL. There will be inevitable chatter about potentially packaging Butler and his $54.1 million salary in a win-now move, but the team doesn\u2019t intend to move off the wing ahead of the NBA\u2019s Feb 5 trade deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

High-ranking team decision-makers have indicated this to Butler, one source told The Standard, which tracks with general manager Mike Dunleavy\u2019s public statements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I envision for him is kind of giving us a boost next year the same way he did last year when he arrived,\u201d Dunleavy said of Butler in his Tuesday press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

3 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday, Jan. 16<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Butler, 36, would be the oldest NBA player in the past 20 years to come back from a torn ACL. There are scant examples of athletes his age, in any sport, recovering from that particular injury and performing at a high level. But Dunleavy believes Butler\u2019s game \u2014 which often relies on ground-bound physicality, a high IQ on both ends of the court, tight footwork, savvy fakes and sharp passing \u2014 should age well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Without Butler, and without a bold, unlikely trade for a star, the Warriors\u2019 hopes of competing for a championship this season are dashed. Golden State is using the next two weeks leading up to the deadline to assess the current team, including Jonathan Kuminga, who has a standing trade request.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One team source suggested the Warriors will stand pat or make marginal trades. Kuminga remains a prime candidate to be moved, if a team makes the Warriors a compelling offer. De\u2019Anthony Melton and Al Horford each have cheap player options next year and would both be appealing to contenders. The Warriors are using this stretch leading up to the deadline to sift through a myriad of options.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Circumstances change quickly in the NBA, but keeping Butler instead of aggressively shopping his contract \u2014 and attaching assets to it \u2014 before the deadline has merits. <\/p>\n

Curry and Draymond Green, the organization\u2019s pillars, are fond of the veteran. They\u2019re also a proven trio. In games with Curry, Butler, and Green in the lineup, the Warriors are 40-17 \u2014 a 59-win pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden State had won 12 of its prior 16 games before Butler went down. Asked about how Butler\u2019s injury should affect the franchise\u2019s direction, Curry was mum.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the lack of historical evidence, there could be reason for optimism that Butler can return from injury at a high level next season. Modern rehab programs have never been better, especially following knee surgeries. There\u2019s a long road ahead for him, but Butler already vowed on Instagram that he\u2019ll \u201cbe back before you know it.\u201d Work ethic and toughness have never been questions for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It would also be difficult to trade Butler. Not many teams would sign up for a player making $54 million to not play this year and $57 million to potentially play the second half of next season. The Warriors would have to attach future draft capital to him, which they\u2019ve been hesitant to do unless for a game-changing player in his prime. That kind of player, barring market dynamics changing significantly, either won\u2019t become available or would likely command more than Butler\u2019s salary as a centerpiece.<\/p>\n

So the team\u2019s stance at the moment is to wait until next year for Butler to reprise his role as Robin to Curry\u2019s Batman. Maybe then, they\u2019ll have the right pieces around them to play meaningful basketball together. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,479,164,4025,4024,313,6,66,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-557737","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-golden-state","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-goldenstate","12":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","13":"tag-jimmy-butler","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-warriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115950210385196044","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557737","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=557737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}