Warriors Get Positive Injury News on Jimmy Butler, De'Anthony Melton

Jimmy Butler was ruled out for the second half of Tuesday's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a knee injury. According to ESPN's Anthony Slater, the injury isn't serious and Butler "shouldn’t miss much (if any) time."

Meanwhile, De'Anthony Melton will make his season debut on Thursday against Philadelphia. Melton tore his ACL in November 2024.

The Warriors needed some good news after Steve Kerr announced Stephen Curry would not play in their next three games while rehabbing his quad injury.

Melton's Return Complicates and Already Complicated Rotation

Even without Butler playing in the second half, the Warriors didn't play Jonathan Kuminga in the fourth quarter against the Thunder. Meanwhile, Moses Moody played just one fourth-quarter minute.

That was the result of Pat Spencer, Seth Curry, Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield earning extra minutes from a great third quarter. Brandin Podziemski also played great in that 44-point third quarter, and Kerr was comfortable playing an extremely guard-heavy lineup (four guards were on the court at the same time for the entire quarter with either Draymond Green or Quinten Post).

In theory, Melton's return would not cut into the minutes of Kuminga and Moody because they have the size to guard bigger players. But in practice, Steve Kerr will go with the five guys he thinks are playing the best.

My guess is Melton will not have a big-minute role immediately, even if he starts. He'll probably cut into Hield's minutes the most, but Will Richard could see a reduction as well.

Once Melton is ramped up, he should play big minutes. I suggested he'd play about 26 minutes per game due to his solid on-ball defense and decent three-point shot.

Warriors Need Butler for Tough 3-Game Road Trip

The Warriors play three road games in four nights starting Thursday. They get the 76ers (11-9) first followed by the Cavaliers (13-9) on Saturday and the Bulls (9-11) on Sunday.

Even after Golden State's surprisingly effective second half against OKC, the team still has a minus-10.8 net rating when Butler and Steph are off the court, per Cleaning the Glass.

When Butler is on and Steph is off, that net rating improves to plus-3.2.