By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: espn.com
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III tore his ACL and is out for the rest of the season. The injury happened on Monday night against the Miami Heat.
Butler’s injury shattered the hopes of the plans the Warriors had this season. The primary purpose of acquiring Butler is to help bring a team a championship. Butler, 36 years old, might have seen his last chance to win a championship before he retires. An injury like an ACL for his age is devastating, and he might not be the same. It takes a year to recover from this injury.
What’s next for the Warriors?
The team can’t turn its focus to Jonathan Kuminga. He’s made it clear that he wants to be traded. We don’t know if they can repair the relationship. Steve Kerr and Kuminga are not seeing eye to eye. The Warriors might have to get someone by the trade deadline.
If the Warriors can’t acquire a big piece, then they might have to consider going into rebuild mode. The Warriors are 25-19 this season and currently sit in eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
Butler is one of the team’s best foul-drawers. He’s responsible for 287 of Golden State’s 974 free-throw attempts this season. In February 2025, the Warriors signed Butler on a two-year, $121 million contract extension. Jimmy is going to make $54 million this season and the same amount for the 2026-27 season.
Butler only missed six games for the Warriors this season. Ironically, this injury happened against his former team, which the Warriors traded for. Hopefully, Butler has a speedy recovery and can be an asset to a team when he comes back.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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