The Golden State Warriors suffered a major loss last night with an injury to Jimmy Butler that will end his season. Being that the Sacramento Kings are in ongoing trade talks with the Warriors over Jonathan Kuminga, this injury changes everything and puts Golden State in much different position.
Just weeks before the NBA trade deadline, it is crushing news for Jimmy Butler and the Warriors.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) January 20, 2026
A torn ACL will end his season and change the trajectory of the franchise.
As the era of dominance for the Warriors comes to an end, the franchise is doing what it can to hang on to past glory. Instead of developing young players, they have been focused on existing veteran stars and bringing in players of a similar vintage. That sounds familiar to Kings' fans.
After Klay Thompson headed to the Mavericks to play with Luka Doncic, a move that aged like milk left on the kitchen counter, the Warriors brought in Jimmy Butler. Like Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, he's getting a little long in the tooth. They countered that by signing the even older Al Horford.
All if this has been going on while head coach Steve Kerr washed his hands of Jonathan Kuminga, a young star with huge potential. Even Green says that Kuminga is a good player who any team would be lucky to have in their locker room. The Butler injury will inevitably change things for the Warriors.
Golden State now needs to move Kuminga quickly to get support
In last night's game between the Heat and the Warriors, Butler went down with a torn ACL that has ended his 2025-2026 campaign. That only amplifies the impact of Kerr and Kuminga basically being done with each other. With a superstar out, the Warriors cannot afford to have a roster spot wasted.
The Warriors and the Kings have been dancing around a trade that would send Kuminga to Sacramento for the better part of a year at this point. Butler being out for the rest of the season is likely going to force Golden State to finally pull the trigger on a move of some kind.
It's not going to be a stupid or half-baked trade just to get Kuminga off the team. But the Warriors have had their eye on Keon Ellis for some time. If they're actually willing to put him on the court unlike Kuminga, then make the deal already. Kerr is going to need him to remain even remotely competitive.
The other option is Kerr doing the unthinkable and actually putting Kuminga on the court in a Warriors jersey. If Golden State's front office can't get a trade done soon, that might actually happen. Or they could just increase Pat Spencer's minutes and stop worrying about it.