The Spurs, today, announced that they have assigned newly-signed forward Da’Sean Butler to the Austin Toros.
Butler was cleared to play three weeks ago, and will be joining the Toros for their final three regular season games on a rehab stint, similar to James Anderson’s two stints with Austin.
Butler, a 6-7, 230-pound forward out of the University of West Virginia, was signed by the Spurs on March 25. He was originally selected by the Miami Heat with the 42nd pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. He signed with the Heat on August 30 and was later waived on October 25. He has been out of action since suffering a torn left ACL in the 2010 Final Four against Duke on April 3. Butler played four seasons with the Mountaineers, finishing with 107 career wins, the most in school history. As a senior, he was named First Team All-Big East, averaging a team-high 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 38 games.
The extra help at small forward couldn’t come at a better time, as the Toros have not announced a timeline for forward Lance Thomas’ return after he suffered an epileptic seizure during Saturday’s game against the Idaho Stampede.
With the loss of Thomas, the Toros went to a three guard lineup on Sunday. The Toros are also one of several bubble teams batting for a playoff seed. If Butler can contribute right away, that could help their cause even more.
Aside from that, Toros forward Michael Joiner says Butler will bring energy to the Toros.
“I think he will fit in fine,” Joiner said. “A lot of youth on the team so their will be a lot of energy and chemistry.”
Toros fans can see Butler in action tomorrow night as he and the Toros will be in Reno to take on the Bighorns at 9 p.m. CST. The game will be available via futurecast.