When Moses Moody went down with a gruesome torn patellar tendon injury against the Dallas Mavericks on March 23, there were fears that he'd miss the entirety of next season in a major blow to the Golden State Warriors' rotation.
But an encouraging update on Moody's rehabilitation suggests he's not only on track to return before the end of next season, but that the 24-year-old could still play a significant role as the Warriors look to rebound from failing to make the playoffs this year.
Warriors get encouraging Moses Moody injury update
According to Marcus Thompson of The Athletic on Sunday, Moody is making good progress four months after surgery and plans to resume running and on-court work prior to training camp.
"Moody has been rehabbing in the Bay Area. He’s targeting September to resume running and returning to on-court work. Next season’s hope floats on Curry’s ability to carry the load until Moody and Jimmy Butler, recovering from a torn ACL, return to playing," Thompson wrote.
While there's still a long way to go in the rehab process, this is a promising start that suggests that Moody could return around the All-Star break or even beforehand. Such an injury can take 6-12 months to heal and if we split that as a nine-month recovery, Moody could theoretically return in January which is around the halfway point of the season.
That means that if everything went to plan, the former lottery pick may still be available for the last 35-40 games of the season, giving him an opportunity to ramp up and ideally be a key part of the rotation again in time for a playoff run if the Warriors manage to get there.
In saying this, Golden State won't be rushing Moody by any means, particularly given he's still a very young player and considering it's unlikely the team will have a championship to play for after the moves (or lack thereof) they've made this summer.
Moses Moody might not be on the Warriors if not for LeBron James
One of those moves the Warriors didn't make was acquiring LeBron James who spurned them in favor of joining the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. That decision may have saved Moody's career with Golden State after reports the franchise was willing to dump his contract in order to give James the mid-level exception.
The Warriors could still theoretically trade Moody's $12.5 million salary with other assets for a roster upgrade, but it no longer appears like they'll be sacrificing him purely for financial flexibility after confirming the re-signings of De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II on Saturday.
Plus, the Warriors may be less inclined to trade Moody anyway if there's a belief that he can still play a meaningful role in next season which this injury update would suggest.
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