Jimmy Butler injury update: Bulls guard to miss 3-4 weeks, all-star game

The Bulls just announced a prognosis for Jimmy Butler, who's been out with an injured knee since Friday in Denver:

Bulls guard/forward Jimmy Butler was re-examined by Bulls Head Team Physician Brian Cole. Butler is expected to miss the next three to four weeks with a strained left knee.

Butler has begun rehabbing his injury and he will be allowed to engage in all activities as tolerated with the primary goal of maintaining his conditioning over the ensuing weeks.

He'll also obviously not be playing in this weekend's All-Star game.

So, that's not ideal. There had been fluctuating reports as to the severity of the injury since it happened. This looks to be in the middle: he's not playing soon, but not requiring surgery either.

With one game to go before the All-Star break, the Bulls find themselves in the 7th seed in the East, 1.5 games head of 9th (and out of the playoffs entirely). They've lost 12 of their last 17 games.

Using the most optimistic of timelines, 3 weeks from today means Butler would be missing the next seven games.