As the NBA works to end it’s hiatus, quite a few questions have arisen — one of the bigger ones involving Kevin Durant.
The stoppage in play has given the Brooklyn Nets forward a window to return to the floor so he can finally make his Brooklyn Nets debut, whether that be in regular season games or the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Neither the Nets nor Durant’s camp have definitively state whether or not he’ll play. Then if Durant comes back, does that change anything for Kyrie Irving?
Nets Wire took a look at the situation and posed the following question to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire and Justin Quinn of Celtics Wire:
Will Kevin Durant and/or Kyrie Irving return for the 2020 NBA Playoffs? If so, what should we expect?
Quinn: I think there’s a few forces at play here. First and most obvious is whether they are actually ready to return. There’s been a bit of quiet around Kyrie’s condition regarding a return, while at the same time it seems like the commentary swirling around Durant seems to hint of such a possibility. Even still, we likely won’t know until the time comes, and that’s where the next shoe drops.
When, and how, the season resumes will also play a huge role. I don’t expect either to play in any resumption of the regular season, and probably not in a postseason format that has an especially fraught path to advance. But I could also see at least one of the two — my guess being Durant — returning if there’s not a murderer’s row of opponents waiting for them.
Carlin: A lot depends on how much Sean Marks and company value the future. Rush Durant and Irving back now and risk further injury for a chance at winning right away? Or have them sit out, get their current roster more playoff experience, and have them come back fully healthy for the 2020-21 season?
Personally, I don’t see a reason for them to return whenever the season does resume. They will need time to get chemistry down with each other plus the rest of the roster and that’s what the regular season is used for. Chalk the season up to a loss for the two of them and move on to next season.
Nets Wire: I’d be more surprised if Irving came back than Durant. Even if he’s been able to train in some capacity, that doesn’t mean he’s close to being at full strength. Given the complications his shoulder gave him this year — and that it’s his right shoulder versus his left — I would think he and the Nets won’t be aggressive in getting him back on the floor.
Now, if Durant was to come back, that could change things for Irving, but that’s layered, too.
No one seems to expect Durant to be his normal self right away, understandably. Should that be the case, it might not make sense for the Nets to get Irving back on the floor. But without Irving available, Durant may not see it in his best interest to come back just yet.
Still, it makes more sense to Durant to come back now if he’s at least at 75% — which is probably right around where he’s going to be. The main reason being: he won’t see game action again until December if he doesn’t play in July. No one from the Nets or Durant’s camp has ruled him out officially yet, so I don’t think it’s out of the question to see him play.
Durant will still make an impact if he’s back on the floor. But him at 75%, without Irving and under Jacque Vaughn who only served two games as interim head coach before the hiatus won’t be enough to get Brooklyn past the first round.
For more roundtable discussions from the USA Today SMG NBA Wires, check out Sixers Wire and Celtics Wire.