Jimmy Butler's torn ACL ruins a Warriors season that looked increasingly promising

When Jimmy Butler tore his ACL, the Golden State Warriors were on their way to their 12th win in 16 games. After their previous game, coach Steve Kerr had said, "This is the most momentum we've had since we started out 4-1." They'd established a more consistent rotation, gotten their turnover problem under control and, as Kerr put it, gotten "settled" for the first time in a while.

Golden State is 25-19 and eighth in the Western Conference following its 135-112 win against the Miami Heat on Monday. This group has played some extremely messy games, and last week Butler himself described the first half of the season as "mediocre." This is a particularly devastating injury, though, because everything appeared to be coming together.

No, the 2025-26 Warriors were never going to be the juggernaut they were a decade ago, but, since Dec. 20 they've had the No. 1 offense in the league, per Cleaning The Glass. Brandin Podziemski, who scored a season-high 24 points against Miami, has never been more comfortable or confident as a scorer than he has recently. De'Anthony Melton and Al Horford have given Golden State exactly what it needed on the second unit; with more shooting and smarts on the floor, the Warriors have looked like the Warriors far more often than they did when they were sidelined. And when Stephen Curry has been on the bench, they've looked entirely different, but this hasn't been such a bad thing, as they've surrounded Butler with shooters and simplified their attack. Lineups featuring Butler without Curry were outscoring opponents by 8.8 points per 100 possessions on the season, per CTG.

Warriors' trade deadline options after Jimmy Butler injury: Blockbuster to replace him? Stand pat? Blow it up?

Sam Quinn

All the Warriors wanted was a puncher's chance, and, heading into the trade deadline, they were playing well enough on both ends to justify making a win-now move. Before Butler went down, they were showing the front office that they had something here, that the plan was working. Right now, they are only 2 ½ games out of fourth place. If they could stay healthy, the thinking went, and if they could turn Jonathan Kuminga (and perhaps some other players and picks) into another significant piece, they'd really be in the fight.

Now, the Butler-without-Curry minutes are gone, at least until some point next season. So are the Curry-Butler pick-and-rolls. Butler was having a fine statistical year, but, as always, his raw numbers  -- 23.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists per 36 minutes, 64.6% true shooting -- understated his importance to the team. Butler took care of the ball, put pressure on the rim, created shots for others and drew fouls far better than any of Golden State's other playmakers. He remained, at 36 years old, capable of switching onto all sorts of offensive players and wreaking havoc as an off-ball roamer. Golden State will be worse in every way without him.

In theory, Butler's injury reopens the door for Kuminga, the disgruntled 23-year-old forward who hasn't played in more than a month. He can get downhill, and he can give the team some more athleticism and speed in the open floor. Maybe that door is sealed shut, though, after his failure to build on his brief, encouraging stretch at the beginning of the season. If Kuminga does get another shot, I worry that his presence may serve as nothing more than a reminder of what the Warriors just lost. Last year, Kerr sat down with Kuminga and watched some of Butler's film. "I think he's the perfect guy for JK to emulate," Kerr said then, explaining that Butler is special because he doesn't try to be: He just makes good decisions and simple, fundamental plays, over and over again.

This quality, as much as Butler's ability to generate good looks and relieve some of the burden on Curry, is what made him an ideal fit for the Warriors. It also makes him irreplaceable. Golden State can still try to make an upgrade in between now and Feb. 5, but it'd be in the name of being more competitive down the stretch, not to give itself a puncher's chance in the postseason. Everything the Warriors have been working toward appears out of reach, and all the momentum they'd built has vanished. They've had an up-and-down season, but this is a cruel, cruel turn.