Dallas will miss Caron Butler's 15 points per game. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)After undergoing season-ending knee surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right knee, Dallas Mavericks' forward Caron Butler will miss the rest of the regular season.
Butler was making his way up the Mavericks scoring totem pole over the last few weeks, averaging 21.5 points per in the four games before his injury. The swingman was second in scoring among Mavs' not named Dirk Nowitzki at 15 points per, only a fraction of a point behind Jason Terry at 15.4, and had bumped up his shooting percentage for the season to 45 percent.
Needless to say, this is a huge blow to an already injury-riddled and struggling Dallas team.
The Mavericks have struggled to just one win in their last four games (after starting the season 24-5) due to the rash of injuries. Nowitzki is not expected to return tonight, but hopes to return later this week; and Rodrigue Beaubois timetable is still in the air after fracturing a bone in his right foot while playing for the French national team in August.
While Dallas could decide to stand pat, I don't believe that this team (as presently constructed) without Butler can compete for a championship. Unfortunately for the Mavs, Butler was (along with Beaubois, Dominique Jones and two first rounders) the biggest trade chip this team had to secure the services of another superstar to pair with Nowitzki. Dallas can still trade Butler, even though he's injured, as an expiring contract; but it's not going to yield the same return, and the Mavs may still have to involve Beaubois.
Here's Butler's Tweet, while Dallas still hasn't made a public announcement on the matter.
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