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On January 19, against the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler suffered an ACL injury that put an end to his season.
The Warriors were 25-19 after managing to still win the game despite Butler’s injury, and looking to be a solid playoff contender, building off the prior season when they upset the Houston Rockets in the first round.

Butler was averaging 20 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists and looking like the secondary star that the team needed following the departure of Klay Thompson.
The injury to Butler, and a subsequent injury to Steph Curry that kept him sidelined for over a month, led to a freefall in the standings that the team could never recover from.
Speaking to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, Butler provided a progress report on his rehab.
“I’m good. I’m in the thick of it. This rehab is tough. It’s still so much work to do to get back to where you want to be. I look forward to getting back to the court,” he said.

He said that the rehab is not harder than he thought, but it’s a grind and tedious. He said he can dunk a basketball, but he can’t jump off of two feet.
He said the goal was to be able to run in a month and a half, and that they are making incredible progress.
It is unclear whe Butler will be able to return to the court. Players typically take between nine months to a year to recover from an ACL injury. The Warriors would hope that Butler could be back by February to help them make a playoff push.
There has been much chatter about Butler’s future in Golden State following his injury given Golden State’s desire to compete and Butler’s contract.

He is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $56 million this upcoming season. Since he will miss at least the first half of the season, Butler’s name has been in trade rumors as the team may look to acquire a star who can contribute immediately, while another team might looking to move off a long-term deal and take a year of an injured Butler before he leaves for free agency.
As of now, it looks like the Warriors will keep Butler, but that could change if Kawhi Leonard is open to signing an extension with Golden State.
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