Golden State Warriors at Washington Wizards

Butler is still months away from retaking the floor, according to Nick Friedell of The Athletic, so a season debut at some point December might be too optimistic. The star forward remains without a definitive timeline for a return after undergoing ACL surgery in early February, which typically carries at least a nine-month recovery period. Butler makes sense as an injury stash at the end of fantasy drafts, but managers should likely be bracing for him to miss at least the first two months of the regular season.

Moody suffered the injury March 23 and underwent season-ending surgery four days later. The 24-year-old had been targeting September to resume running and on-court work, so his latest progress appears to keep his rehabilitation on track, though he remains without a firm timetable for his return to game action.

Porzingis will miss the start of training camp due to the unknown issue, and his status for the beginning of the regular season is murky. If the veteran big man is forced to miss time to begin the campaign, Al Horford and Charles Bassey would be candidates for increased playing time.

Knee

General manager Will Dawkins said Thursday that Sarr is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season, so the limited workload to begin camp appears precautionary. Sarr underwent surgery in mid-June, and his progress during the preseason will be worth monitoring, but there currently doesn't appear to be significant concern about his availability for Opening Night.

Watkins, a two-way player for the Wizards, suffered the injury during the Summer League. Although Washington has yet to offer a timetable for a return, a typical recovery time for the procedure is approximately 9-to-12 months. That leaves Watkins in serious jeopardy of missing most, if not all, of the 2026-27 season, and it remains to be seen if the team will continue keeping him around on a two-way roster spot while he's injured.

Although the big man will remain a limited participant in training camp as he continues his rehab from a hip impingement, it sounds like his absence from game action will extend into the regular season. Deandre Ayton should have the backup center role all to himself until Vukcevic is cleared to retake the floor.