Jimmy Butler’s ACL tear leaves Warriors with more questions than answers

The Golden State Warriors need to do right by Steph Curry. 

That’s what they did last season when they pulled off a big swing at the Feb. trade deadline, acquiring Jimmy Butler from Miami in an attempt to breathe new life into the league’s flailing modern day dynasty. 

It worked. 

The first night that Butler was around the Warriors — during a game in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Feb. 6 — Draymond Green told me that acquiring Butler “1,000 percent” put them in contention to compete for a championship. Butler told me: “We’re going to bring hell to a lot of people.”

Those hopes were dashed Monday when Butler suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during a game against Miami. Butler needs surgery and will miss the rest of the season, a major blow for a team that had won 12 of their last 16 games.

Now, the Warriors’ future remains incredibly fuzzy. 

Do they tank in an attempt to get a high draft pick? Do they keep Jonathan Kuminga, who requested a trade as soon as he became trade eligible Jan. 15? 

No and no. 

As long as Curry is on the Warriors, they need to have a win-now mindset.

He’s 37. He’s healthy.

The four-time NBA champion, who’s the oldest All-Star starter by six years, is averaging a stunning 31 points on 47 percent shooting from the field, 4.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists a game. 

The Warriors need to figure out a way to give Curry another fighting chance. 

They’re in eighth place in the Western Conference with a record of 25-19, but they’re only 2 1/2 games behind the fourth-place Minnesota Timberwolves and 1 1/2 games behind the sixth-place Lakers. They’re still very much in the playoff hunt at the midway point in the season. 

The one silver lining of Butler’s awful injury is that it happened just over two weeks ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.

The Warriors still have time to prevent this season from swirling the drain. They can get their ducks in a row to give Curry another shot at a fifth title, even though it’s unlikely with young powerhouses like Oklahoma City and San Antonio lying in wait. 

But Curry deserves a shot.

And if he’s healthy in the playoffs, the Warriors have one. They can’t wait until he’s a year older, which, at this point in his career, should be calculated with a similar equivalency to dog years.

As for Kuminga, they must trade him. He wants to leave. His relationship with Warriors coach Steve Kerr has long soured, with him not having played since Dec. 18, missing the team’s last 16 games. 

Kerr said “sure, absolutely” when asked if Kuminga could re-enter the rotation in Butler’s absence. And in the short-term, Kuminga should absolutely start playing again, which could benefit both him and the Warriors by raising his trade value. But ultimately, he just can’t be on the roster past Feb. 5. The trust between him and Kerr has eroded too much to try to put a bandaid on that wound.

Curry deserves to share the court with a player who really wants to be here. And Kuminga deserves the opportunity to turn into the star he believes he can become elsewhere. The fit wasn’t right. And even though Kuminga shined at times, his inconsistency ultimately became his greatest consistent. 

So, what do the Warriors do now? 

Do they use some combination of their three tradable future first-round picks, gambling with their future? Do they try to bolster their roster with the likes of Trey Murphy III, Michael Porter Jr. or Lauri Markkanen, the latter of whom they were linked to two summers ago before he signed his four-year, $196 million extension with Utah. 

Do they trade Butler, who has a $56.8 million expiring contract next season? Do they attempt to go after another star like Ja Morant?

This much is for sure: They have to do something. 

Franchises always have to weigh whether it’s smarter to gamble on the now or play the long game, an equation which is especially tricky given Curry’s current skills combined with his short runway.

But here’s the thing. Curry is still Curry. He’s still the player who’s capable of erupting with jaw-dropping scoring sprees. Green is still a defensive wiz. De’Anthony Melton is starring in his role. Al Horford is capable of swinging things on any given night. 

Losing Butler was a huge blow, but the Warriors still have a chance to make things right. And they must go all in, trading some combination of their first-round picks alongside Kuminga…or even Butler to give it a shot. 

The Warriors may be a fading dynasty, as Kerr recently called the team. But Kerr knows better than anyone how quickly a gerund can transform into the past tense after witnessing it first-hand with the Chicago Bulls. 

The Warriors aren’t necessarily there yet. 

For Curry’s sake, they need to put one last great effort into tweaking the ship’s direction before it’s forever lost at sea.