When Caron Butler elevated for a putback attempt in the Mavericks’ Jan. 1 game at Milwaukee and his body buckled in mid-air, you knew it had to be a serious injury. Butler is known as one of the toughest players in the NBA, but in that moment the pain was too much to even sustain a regular landing.
Butler was later found to have a torn tendon in his right knee, and today he had surgery that will likely cause him to miss the rest of the season.
While the Mavs have put together the second-best record in the Western Conference at 25-8, Butler has been the team’s third-leading scorer with 15.0 points per game to go with 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 steals. He is also one of Dallas’ top three-point threats, hitting 43 percent beyond the arc, and arguably their best perimeter defender.
Butler is also in a contract year. He spent this summer training in Chicago training at the ATTACK Athletics Center — where players like Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas have gone to rebuild their bodies in previous years — and said he was in the best shape of his career at 30 years old. He’s making $10.5 million this season and will be a free agent this summer.
