Warriors’ Star Jimmy Butler Suffers Season-Ending ACL Injury

In what was already a frustrating season for the Golden State Warriors, they will now be without forward Jimmy Butler for the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL late Monday night versus his former team, the Miami Heat.

The injury happened in the third quarter, when Brandin Podziemski floated a pass to Butler, and as he went up for the ball, he landed awkwardly on his right leg after a mid-air collision with Davion Mitchell.

Butler was in obvious pain immediately after coming down on his leg and being helped to the locker room. Butler was unable to put any weight on his leg. An ACL injury was confirmed early Tuesday morning.

Without Butler, the Warriors face an uphill battle the rest of the season. Sitting at 25-19 and eighth in the Western Conference. The Warriors are looking to avoid the play-in for the second consecutive year, but without Butler, it will be very difficult to make any significant noise, especially in a tough conference. Butler was averaging 20.0/5.6/4.9 in what was another stellar season for the veteran forward.

Butler, 36, has one more year left on his current deal with the Warriors and is owed $56.8 million next season. This injury will almost certainly impact the Warriors’ plans for the trade deadline, which is on February 5. Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has requested a trade from the organization, but with Butler’s injury, that may change whether Kuminga remains a Warrior.

The Warriors are already one of the oldest teams in the league, with Stephen Curry, 37, Draymond Green, 35, and Al Horford, 39, so the direction of the team is certainly a massive question mark.

Butler faces an uphill battle, as ACL injuries for aging players tend not be kind, which makes this so much more difficult.