Butler Targets January Return, Wants to Retire a Warrior — SkimNews
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- Jimmy Butler tore his right ACL against Miami during a stretch in which Golden State went 11-4 while he averaged 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists; he scored 32 on 14-of-22 shooting in his final pre-injury game against the eventual-champion Knicks.
- Butler told ESPN he 'felt I let Steph down, I let Draymond down, I let Steve down' after the Warriors acquired him midseason — Golden State went 23-8 in regular-season games he played before the injury.
- General manager Mike Dunleavy pushed hardest for the Butler trade and delivered a two-year, $111 million extension; Dunleavy played with Butler in Chicago for three seasons and was among the Bulls veterans who first told Butler he was on a star trajectory.
- The Warriors declined to entertain Butler-plus-picks offers this offseason — including potential deals for Anthony Davis or Jaylen Brown — because team sources say Dunleavy views Butler as essential to winning, despite the market treating his expiring $56.8 million contract as negative value.
- Butler and Moses Moody are both working back from major knee injuries; Moody (ruptured patellar tendon in late March) could return in the December-January window ahead of Butler's expected January-February comeback, with both still limited to individual court work.
- Butler becomes extension-eligible February 6 and has publicly stated he wants to retire as a Warrior, but the franchise can clear nearly $60 million in cap space next summer — enough cap flexibility to reshape the roster around Stephen Curry and the young core.
Why it matters: The Warriors are staking their short-term title hopes on a 37-year-old coming off ACL surgery while most projections put them in the Western Conference's bottom third without him. Butler's February 6 extension eligibility and the team's nearly $60 million in projected 2026 cap space create a narrow window: if he returns close to form, Golden State gets one more legitimate run with Curry and Green; if he doesn't, they face a roster already missing $69 million in starting wings.
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