SAN FRANCISCO — Injured Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler underwent successful surgery on his torn right ACL on Monday morning in Los Angeles, the team announced.
Butler will miss the rest of this season and his progress won’t be updated until “early next season,” according to the news release, signaling the team’s expectation that he won’t be back until the middle of the 2026-27 campaign.
Butler suffered the injury on Jan. 19 in a win over the Miami Heat. He consulted several specialists for the surgery, landing on Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, who performed it on Monday morning with a few members of the Warriors’ organization on hand.
Butler has been with the Warriors almost exactly a calendar year after a midseason trade from Miami at the deadline in 2025. He helped boost them to a 23-8 run down the stretch and into the second round of the playoffs last season.
The Warriors were 12-4 in their past 16 games with Butler, generating internal optimism that another playoff run was on the horizon. But Butler’s injury, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr recently put it, lowers their ceiling.
Butler has one season and $56.8 million remaining on his current contract. General manager Mike Dunleavy said he didn’t “envision” trading Butler and anticipates him returning to the team next season.
“I think he’s got a style of game that can play for a long time with his skill, his physicality, his mind for the game,” Dunleavy said. “So I guess my vision for him is him returning at some point between now and this time next year.”
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