Butler's latest Instagram post ended with a promise to fans, but the reporting around his torn ACL still points to a return closer to the new year than to opening night.
Jimmy Butler put a set of workout photos on Instagram, and the short caption under them ended with the line every Golden State Warriors fan who has watched the team play without him since January wanted to see.
Butler wrote "I will see you soon in a ten Warriors jersey" under the photos, as Heavy printed it, and that one sentence has done more for the mood around the team than any official update this summer.
It is worth remembering what the word soon covers here, because the calendar has not moved just because Butler sounds ready.
What the Timeline Really Says
Butler tore the ACL in his right knee on Jan. 19 against Miami, and he had the ligament repaired on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles, with the team saying at the time that a progress update would come early next season.
He was averaging 20.0 points in 38 games before he went down, and the Warriors have missed having that second scorer next to Stephen Curry ever since.
Mike Dunleavy told reporters on Aug. 11 that Butler will not be available for the Oct. 21 opener against the Los Angeles Lakers or in the near term after that, so the promise in the caption is not about the first week of the season.
Anthony Slater said on ESPN in July that Butler is being asked to come back in the January or February range, and Danny Emerman of the San Francisco Standard wrote last month that he would guess somewhere between Christmas and March.
The idea that Butler could be back for the Christmas game against Denver is the most hopeful version of that, and even that would be more than 11 months after the injury.
Why the Wait Is the Right Call
The Warriors will open camp at BYU-Hawaii on Sept. 29 after media day at Chase Center the day before, and the timeline means Butler will be watching those practices instead of playing in them.
Moses Moody is in the same spot after his patellar tendon injury, and Dunleavy said both players will miss the start of the year while the team carries a full 15-man roster.
The front office still has to decide what the plan is for a season that starts without two of its best perimeter players.
Butler turns 37 next Monday, and he is on the final year of his contract at a little over $56.8 million, so this is the season that decides whether he ever plays another one in San Francisco.
Brian Windhorst has already floated the idea that the Warriors could use him as a trade piece at midseason, and that only works if he comes back looking like himself.
That is why the team should hold him to the slow version of soon.
A healthy Butler in February is worth a lot more to Curry and Draymond Green than a limited one in December, and the last thing this roster needs is another knee problem in a year with so little margin for error.
The post was a nice reminder that he still wants to be here, but the knee will be the deciding factor.
