After the first three games of this Golden State Warriors NBA season, it looked as though whether Jimmy Butler returned or whether he stayed in a state of perpetual rehab from the torn ACL surgery he had back in January would not much matter. But a switch has been flipped since then, and the Warriors have reeled off seven straight wins and suddenly find themselves well ahead of the progress they’d hoped to have been making at this point in their season. Stephen Curry has held up, health-wise, and is averaging 31.3 points on the season. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg has already blossomed into stardom. Newly paid guard Brandin Podziemski has been improved, and new role players Brandon Williams and Georges Niang have exceeded expectations.
The plan for the Warriors was always to hope a few of those things would happen and that they could tread water until Butler returns. But they’re doing more than trading water. And we might be approaching the time when we start seriously weighing exactly when Butler will be back on the floor.
Jimmy Butler Is ‘Ramping Up’
On Saturday, before the Warriors topped the Magic, coach Steve Kerr pointed out that Butler got in a full workout ahead of the game.
From Clutch Points reporter Kenzo Fukuda: “Steve Kerr, pre-game, said Jimmy Butler worked out in his full Warriors uniform. Lo and behold, Butler, fresh from a workout, walked into the locker room in the full home whites. Looked like he got a good sweat in, a sign that his recovery is ramping up.”
Now, Butler has several times in recent months indicated he is pleased with his progress. But he and the Warriors have also resisted the notion of putting a timeline on his return. Logically, one year is the typical back end of an ACL rehab and return, with nine or 10 months being the front end. Butler is 37, and it only makes sense that the Warriors will insist he is slow an deliberate with his comeback.
Warriors Will Be Cautious
Still, we’re nearing the 10-month mark of Butler recovery. It’s not a stretch to imagine he could get back on the floor sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, though again, the Warriors have given no timeline indications and want Butler to be 100% when he returns.
Butler has not been shy (of course), saying of his rehab: “My numbers are staggering. They’re off the charts. I’m ahead, so they say. So I just know that all the work that I’ve been doing, whether it be at home, in L.A., in Europe, in South America, wherever the case may be, I’ve been doing all the right things just the way everybody has asked me to do it.
“So I am confident that whenever I come back, I’ll be more than ready, I’ll be more than healthy, and I’ll be more of a better player, all-around player than I was whenever I went down.”
Warriors’ Hopes Raised as Jimmy Butler ‘Ramping Up’ for Return