After being sidelined May 8th due to a calf injury, Kevin Durant returned to the court for game 5. To start the game, KD played well, scoring 11 points with two boards in 12 minutes of play. Early in the game however, while guarded by Serge Ibaka, the unthinkable happened.
Durant re-injured his calf, and there is speculation his “calf injury” was actually an achilles injury all along. While we have covered his future home before, how does his injury impact those plans?
The Worst Case Scenario
If Kevin Durant tore his achilles, he will have limited options in free agency. I will get to this later. To find a recent comparison, look no further than his teammate: DeMarcus Cousins. Boogie tore his left achilles on January 26th, 2018. This was in a contract year, and Boogie subsequently signed a contract with the Warriors. Cousins spent the next 12 months trying to return to the court. He finally made his return on January 18th, 2019. While this has worked out and he is now playing in his first Finals series, this would be devastating to KD. At this point, Kevin Durant does not want to sign a small contract just to play in the Finals. With that being said, there are two realistic options for Kevin Durant to sign.
Option One: KD Stays
The most obvious option in this scenario is stay with Golden State. Kevin Durant should accept his player option, and rehab on his own time. The Warriors will make it to the playoffs next season with or without Durant. He will feel no pressure to come back before he is ready. By doing this, he can work his way back to full strength, and maybe even get a ring along the way. There are the downsides for Durant. If he opts in, people will attack him. The media and Golden State fans will say he is just opting in for a pay check, and doesn’t care about the team. KD cares a lot about his image, and this will bother him to his core. If he grows a backbone in the next month, then he should opt in. However, there is one other downside. Can Kevin Durant and Draymond Green survive another year with each other? I think one of them will kill the other by the Finals next year. Given the people involved, next finals the Warriors will be wearing a black band in honor of Kevin Durant, and Draymond will be in jail somewhere.
Option Two: KD Bolts for the Knicks
While I think the first option makes the most sense, this is probably more likely. Kevin Durant does not heavily rely on his athleticism, and should return to form after he recovers from this injury. At least that’s what James Dolan will tell himself. Almost every team will be concerned about KD’s achilles during free agency. Not good old Jimmy though. Expect him to offer KD a max deal, and KD will probably take it… but should he?
No. The Knicks are expected to make some big moves this offseason in hopes to go deep in the playoffs. A team in that position will view this season as a failure if they miss the playoffs, and will rush a player back from injury. If Kevin Durant knows what is best for his legacy, he will stay in Golden State one more year and cash in next offseason.
2 Comments
This article is extremely poor. KD has a 32 mil contract for next year, player option. He does need to negotiate anything!!!! You article is an absolute garbage since this is the most important fact for the upcoming free agency!!!
That’s two sentences in the article, and the rest of it stands. Yes, I made a mistake, I’m human, but that does not invalidate the rest of what I said.