After rupturing his Achilles during the final game of the 2019 NBA Finals, is it at all possible that Kevin Durant could return this season for the Brooklyn Nets?
While it is largely assumed that the newly added franchise cornerstone Kevin Durant will miss the upcoming season, many have speculated that you shouldn’t completely rule out a possible come back. Will we see Kevin donning a Brooklyn Nets uniform as early as this season?
It’s a tough time table, as the recovery time for an injury of such magnitude consistently varies from person to person. However if history tells us anything, fans likely won’t see Kevin play this season.
What is worth noting though, is that Kevin has been keeping fans up to date on his rehabilitation process via posts on various social media outlets. Through this we’ve seen that his recovery may be slightly ahead of schedule, as he’s just two months removed from his surgery and is already regularly walking around. So for all intents and purposes, what is the absolute earliest that we could see Kevin Durant in a Brooklyn Nets uniform?
If absolutely everything goes according to plan while also exceeding said plan, it’s not inconceivable that he could make his return come playoff time. Now whether or not he’s physically capable of playing consistent minutes would be up to the discretion of himself as well as the medical staff.
If he were to return, fans shouldn’t expect a complete return to form. However he would bring an immediate impact to a presumed playoff team no matter what his role may wind up being in his physical state at the time.
The explosiveness may not be present just nine or ten months removed from a complete rupture of a basketball players most crucial tendon, his jump shot and his floor spacing alone would improve the Nets chances at advancing in the postseason.
The question that would immediately come to mind is – how worth it would that be? To add a player like Kevin Durant who even at 80 percent health is better than a large majority of the league just to maybe advance to the second round? Doing this would obviously re-open the possibility of re-aggravating the injury he worked for so long to recover from or worse – rupture it again.
Is it worth risking that? Or do the Nets allow him to take an additional off-season to rest and take the 2020 season in full charge and go for the NBA championship?
In an ideal world, the latter seems more plausible.