What Jimmy Butler's injury means for Jonathan Cummings, according to Steve Kerr

In many ways, Golden State Warriors they start the new season on Tuesday night. Jimmy Butler left Monday night’s game with a right side injury and was was diagnosed with a torn right ACL later that night. It opens the door for a many issues involving the Warriorswith most of them surrounding the future Jonathan Cumminga.

As of Jan. 15, Kuminga became eligible for a trade, and the Warriors will have just over two weeks until the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline to find a new home for Kuminga. But does Jimmy Butler’s injury now mean Kuminga could rejoin the Warriors lineup?

“Could be, could be, yes,” said Steve Kerr before the Warriors host the Raptors on Tuesday night. “You know, he obviously hasn’t played in a while. But at this point we’ve got to experiment a little bit with the rotations, see where we’re at. And he’s definitely part of that conversation, that conversation.”

Steve Kerr was later asked by reporters if he believed Kuminga wanted to be a part of the Warriors rotation and if he wanted to play for the organization right now.

Kerr said yes to both of those questions, setting the stage for a potentially new era for the Warriors.

Steve Kerr discusses whether Jimmy Butler’s injury could lead to Jonathan Cumminga’s return to the Warriors’ rotation 🤨 pic.twitter.com/KSSr5L1Af0V
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 21, 2026

Jonathan Cumminga has played in just 18 games for the Warriors this season, averaging 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 32 percent from three. He was named the starter by head coach Steve Kerr ahead of their third game of the season, which saw the two sides turn things around.

But after the start of the first 12 games, things went downhill for both sides. Jonathan Cumminga has not appeared in a single game for the Warriors since playing against the Phoenix Suns on December 18th. He’s been a healthy non-player ever since, which still signaled the impending end of his time with the Warriors.

But an injury to Butler could end up changing things in terms of Cummings’ playing time and his reported trade demand.

General Director Mike Dunleavy spoke with media representatives about Jimmy Butler’s injury on Tuesday night, while also diving into the team’s trade deadline plans involving Jonathan Cummings.

“Yes, I mean, as far as demand goes, I’m aware of that,” Mike Dunleavy said before Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors. “I think when you, you know, in terms of demand, when you’re looking, there’s got to be a market demand. So we’ll see where it goes. But Burt, always with these guys, I tell them I’m willing to work with them. You know, I want to help people, whether it’s JK or any player on the roster. So we’re fine with his wishes, we understand that. The best for our organization, and we’re going to do that.

“As far as the deadline coming up, I think we’re going to need the next couple of weeks to evaluate this team a little bit better. I felt pretty good about where we were going into last night’s game, in terms of what we needed to do. I thought our team was playing really well, going in the right direction. Obviously things have changed. So I want to look at what our team can do better and see what we can do these games.

Mike Dunleavy on Jonathan Cumminga’s trade request: “I’m aware of that. In terms of a request, when you make a demand, there has to be a demand.” pic.tvitter.com/KSOGKSj3HFrs
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyslater) January 21, 2026