Jimmy Butler is about to enter the final year of his contract without knowing if he’ll even be healthy for opening night, and whether he finishes that year in Golden State may come down to a decision he might not have much control over.
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According to ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel, the Warriors are approaching the season in “wait-and-see mode,” ready to sell off veterans, Butler included, if they’re near the bottom of the West by the trade deadline.
“They’re going to try to be as good as they can. And it is wait-and-see mode because if they’re failing expectations and they’re a bottom team in the West by the trade deadline, you’re going to see them sell,” Siegel said.
“You may see Jimmy Butler in the final year of his contract be traded. You may see some other guys around Steph being moved so they can accumulate assets to really tackle the 2027 offseason hard,” Siegel added.
Butler tore his right ACL against Miami on January 19, colliding awkwardly with Heat guard Davion Mitchell, and had surgery in February. It was the third significant injury to that same knee of his career, after a torn meniscus in 2018 and a sprained MCL in 2024.
His agent, Bernie Lee, called it “a gut punch on every level” at the time, while adding he still expects Butler to win a championship before he’s done. A recovery of six-plus months puts a realistic return somewhere between late 2026 and the February trade deadline. That timeline overlaps with the trade-deadline window when Siegel says the Warriors’ direction could become clearer.
Before the injury, Butler was having one of his best seasons in years, with 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists a game across 38 appearances, trailing only Curry in scoring on the roster.
“I do wanna come back, we all know that,” Butler told reporters in January, addressing the injury for the first time. “I can’t say when. Obviously, as early as I can to help my guys win some games.”
Siegel’s approach to the future also depends on the injury timeline that runs concurrently with Butler’s.
“You bring Butler back. You bring Moody back sometime in February or March once he’s healed from his patella injury,” Siegel said, describing what a playoff push would look like if the Warriors stay afloat.
Moses Moody tore his left patellar tendon on March 23, 2026, and has said that he hopes to begin running and on-court work in September, though his return timeline remains uncertain.
Besides the medical concerns, the team’s wild card will be what Steph Curry decides to do going into 2027.
Curry is presently under contract with a salary of $62.6 million and can opt for an extension up to two years at a value of $136.7 million, which will keep him with Golden State until the end of the 2028-2029 season.
If Curry signs the extension now, it would significantly reduce the Warriors’ potential cap flexibility heading into 2027. But if Curry waits until the 2027 offseason, Butler’s expiring contract could help give the Warriors around $100 million in cap space, creating significant room to pursue another star.