The Golden State Warriors are set up for the next couple of years because their stars don’t want to leave each other. Golden State is known for being a great place for superstars to thrive with one another.
The Warriors have Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler all together on the same squad. Butler and Green would like to retire with Golden State alongside Curry.
“Butler and Green have expressed interest in retiring with the Warriors, though doing so could require them to return on substantially smaller contracts,” The Athletic’s Nick Friedell wrote.
Butler is still recovering from his ACL tear, and he is still in the heart of the recovery process. However, a return in January is a possibility.
“Butler has been slowly increasing his on-court work while traveling the globe this summer, and the most recent strength tests on his right ACL recovery have shown notable progress, according to league sources. But Butler still has extensive rehab work ahead. He is expected to be limited to individual court and strength work when training camp opens in a month, league sources said, with the 36-year-old forward needing more time to be cleared for a full contact setting. A return in January or February can be considered an optimistic target,” ESPN’s Anthony Slater wrote.
In a recent interview, Butler revealed just how far along he is in the process.
“I’m in a place where I get to play basketball a little bit. Starting to run. I can dunk, as I’ve said. I probably shouldn’t be doing that, but I can. And then everything else is the same. Coffee, being a dad, travel, soccer, football, and a whole bunch of ping pong… It’s not so much the dunking part like, I can jump. It’s more so of the coming down because that’s where all the force is. So I’ve kind of been like, very cognizant of, ‘I can’t land too hard.’ We haven’t got to where the whole body is doing it the way it’s supposed to, but I can dunk,” Butler said.
It sure does seem like Butler is in a nice place in his recovery, which is exactly what Golden State wants to see. He is going to be a big part of the Warriors’ success when he gets back, hopefully in February.
The fact that he is already dunking is a very encouraging sign for Golden State. Butler is known for being a hard worker, so there is no doubt that he is working his tail off to get back from the injury.
