Jimmy Butler tore his ACL in late February and has barely played basketball since. The Warriors haven’t changed their stance on trading him. Those two things are connected in a way that might sound counterintuitive for a team built around a 38-year-old Stephen Curry.
According to a report from ClutchPoints insiders Brett Siegel and Tomar Azarly, Golden State has refused to engage in trade talks involving Butler this offseason. The Wizards came calling. The Warriors hung up.
“I’ve been told that they are not shopping Jimmy Butler whatsoever,” Siegel said on the latest episode of Clutch Scoops. “That’s why there was no trade talks between the Washington Wizards and the Warriors. They want to keep Jimmy Butler, and they fully believe that he’s going to come back better than ever when he is healthy.”
Here’s the catch. Butler likely won’t play a game until 2027.
The early timeline puts his return sometime after the new year but probably before the All-Star break. That means the six-time All-Star could miss the first half of the 2026-27 season entirely. For a team with Curry still playing at an elite level and Draymond Green still doing Draymond Green things, that’s a gamble.
But the Warriors seem willing to take it.
Butler averaged 20 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 38 games last season. He shot nearly 52% from the floor and a career-best 37.6% from three before the injury ended his year. The guy can still play. The question is whether he can play at the level Golden State needs when he finally gets back on the court.
His contract runs through next season. If he doesn’t return until mid-January or later, he’ll have maybe 30-40 games to prove he’s still worth a max deal. Or worth another contract at all. Free agency awaits in the summer of 2027 and the Warriors are betting on the comeback.
There’s also the Curry factor. The clock is ticking on his prime and the organization knows it. Every season without a real title shot burns one more year off the back end of his career. Holding onto Butler instead of flipping him for younger assets or immediate help is a very specific kind of commitment.
Siegel added that the team believes Butler will come back “better than ever.” That’s a lot of faith in a 36-year-old coming off a torn ACL. But Golden State has never been a franchise that operates like everyone else.
For now Butler is rehabbing. The trade rumors are quiet. And the Warriors are willing to wait.
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