Moses Moody Knee Injury Type, Recovery Timeline Length Revealed

An MRI revealed that Moses Moody suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee during Monday's game against the Mavericks, the Warriors announced. He is out for the season.

The Warriors were surely hoping it was simply a dislocation. Tendon damage is a worst-case scenario.

UCSF orthopedic surgery professor Dr. Nirav Pandya wrote on X that "the typical time frame for recovery is 9-12 months."

Moody is in the first year of a three-year, $37.5 million contract. The 23-year-old had a career year in 2025-26, averaging a career-high 12.1 points and shooting a career-high 40.1 percent from three.

Warriors Will Be Without Two Best Wings for Chunk of 2026-27 Season

Of course the Moody injury on its own is devastating. But combined with Jimmy Butler's torn ACL, it's something more than devastating for the Warriors.

Butler had ACL surgery on Feb. 9. For reference, De'Anthony Melton had ACL surgery on Dec. 4, 2024, and he returned on Dec. 4, 2025.

Butler returning in exactly one year would be a great result, but keep in mind Melton had the ACL injury when he was 26. Butler is 36. Butler being 10 years older could make his recovery longer.

With all due respect to the other Warriors under contract for the 2026-27 season, Stephen Curry, Butler and Moody are the three most valuable players on the roster. How the Warriors navigate the season without two of them for at least half of it is beyond me.

I share the same sentiment as Light Years podcast's Sam Esfandiari:

Between Jimmy injury, Moody injury, and all the holes on the roster.. im not sure what the path is next year
— Sam Esfandiari (@samesfandiari) March 24, 2026

Moody's Timeline

There haven't been that many examples of basketball players suffering torn patellar tendons, but here are a couple that could guide how long Moody will be out.

On Jan. 1, 2011, Caron Butler suffered the same injury. The 2011-12 season didn't start until Christmas Day due to a lockout, so it's hard to say if Butler could have been back before that. But he did play for his team's opening game, which means it took him 358 days to return.

Jeremy Lin suffered the injury to open the the 2017-18 season, and he didn't return until the season opener for 2018-19. That's 364 days.

Both Lin and Butler declined after returning from the injury, but they were also several years older than Moody. Butler was 30 at the time of his injury, while Lin was 29 at the time of his own.

Pandya said in a video on X that "usually for the first year or two afterwards, it can be hard to get back to the same level of play."

Pandya explained why Moody's outlook might be better than those who missed a year or more with this injury.

"Moody's young age and the advances in rehab / surgical techniques make the prognosis for Moody better than players who have suffered this injury in the past at advanced ages."