The Golden State Warriors have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA, but last night they got dealt some killer news despite a win over the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL and will now miss the rest of this season and at least most of next year. Outside of something happening to Steph Curry, this is the worst news the Warriors could possibly get as they try to rise up the Western Conference ranks.
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DeMarcus Cousins is in a unique position to understand what Butler is going through. He spent one season with the Warriors back in 2018-19, and it was an injury-plagued one. He had just worked his way back from a torn Achilles the year before, only to then tear his quad early in the playoffs.
That Warriors team also lost Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to injury in the Finals, ultimately losing to the Raptors in six games. They did eventually bounce back by winning the title a few years later, but Cousins doesn’t see it playing out that way for them now. On today’s episode of Run It Back, he explained why.
“On top of [Butler’s injury], they have development issues,” he said. “They’re struggling with this situation between Steve Kerr and Jonathan Kuminga. And the biggest thing is, you’re wasting your franchise guy — a top-five, top-ten player all time, you’re wasting the rest of his season.”
“This season and moving forward, he continued, “’cause technically at this point, the Warriors have no future. So this is a really bad situation with this Warriors organization and this group, and I don’t really see any light at the end of the tunnel.”
Cousins’ words are harsh, but it’s difficult to find fault with them. Steph turns 38 in less than two months. Butler will be 37 whenever he’s able to get back on the court. And the younger generation of Warriors haven’t popped like they’ve hoped.
That includes Kuminga, who’s likely to be traded in the next two weeks, but there also hasn’t been enough consistency from guys like Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody to feel like they can carry the torch moving forward.
The best hope for the Warriors in the short term might be trading Kuminga for someone that can help replace Butler right away. ESPN’s Shams Charania suggested DeMar DeRozan as a possibility.
Steph is still operating near the peak of his powers, but for how long that will last, nobody can tell. The window is closing, and there doesn’t seem to be an easy fix.
