Kevin Durant done for the season: Five big questions

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Kevin Durant is officially done for the rest of the season. That’s really bad news. And not just for the Thunder, but potentially for 26-year-old Kevin Durant’s career.

There are probably 500 good questions to ask about all of this, but here are five big ones:

1. What does this mean for Durant’s future?

Here’s a great explanation from Dr. Mark Adickes on what exactly a bone graft is. And in that, he cites two different studies done on athletes returning to play following them. One hundred percent have come back from the injury and played at a high level following it. The expectation is Durant will do the same.

Yes, it’s still concerning. It’s worrisome. You should probably sleep in the fetal position for the next four to six months. People can throw out names like Bill Walton, Yao Ming and Grant Hill, and it gets scary. But this is a Jones fracture, and the complications stemming from the repair procedure, not a chronic foot problem. Ninety-two to 95 percent of Jones fracture surgeries are successful with the insert of a very standard screw. Durant’s body didn’t “agree” with the screw, and he fell into the unusual five to eight percent that have to take different measures to experience a full repair and recovery.

But historically, a player has never not returned from this procedure. This isn’t career-threatening or even career-limiting. It’s a massive setback, no question, and will be an ongoing concern going forward. You’re going to watch every game next season asking yourself, “Is he limping? I think he’s limping.” He may have more setbacks because he has bad feet, who knows. But that’s speculation without any evidence, so for now, we just have to go on what we know, which is Durant will be back next season, and should be able to put this behind him.

2. Is this all the Thunder’s fault?

The big question I’m seeing a lot is, “Did Durant come back too quickly?”

The answer is, yeah, probably, in hindsight. But also what you have to understand is the team is in constant consultation with specialists about this. And sometimes, things don’t go as anticipated. It’s not like they were just saying, “I don’t care, get Durant back out there before we lose more games.”

In these situations, it makes everyone feel better to assign blame. Point a finger at someone, lash out, yell, gripe, whatever. And in truth, it probably is someone’s fault in there. Maybe it’s Durant’s. Maybe it’s Sam Presti’s. Maybe it’s the medical team. Maybe it’s your fault, ever think of that?

What’s necessary to keep in mind, though, is no one was being irresponsible here. If Durant did return earlier than he should of, it’s only because he was cleared to do so. The team and Durant can only operate off of what they’re being told, and up until literally a week and a half ago, this thing was healing the way it was supposed to. The thought was that the screwhead had created a severe bone bruise from the constant rubbing, and Durant just couldn’t shake it off without significant time off. That’s what everyone thought. I was told by someone that’s pretty close to it all that he was going to play against the Celtics two weeks ago. That’s how unexpected this turn of events became.

Durant practiced on that Saturday before, doing some 3-on-3, then he played 1-on-1 in Dallas on Monday. And after that, he walked out of the arena with a severe limp, and pretty deflated. It wasn’t improving the way it was supposed to with the increased activity and at that point, the writing was really on the wall.

It doesn’t look good that Durant has had three surgeries on his foot. One is plenty. One is supposed to do the job. With what happened last season with Russell Westbrook, there’s good reason to wonder what’s going on. But I’d look at it this way: The Thunder’s conservative approach opens the door for them to get egg on their face. They didn’t mess around with Westbrook, taking a chance to let him play on a swollen knee. They pulled the plug, and made the decision to scope and deal with the consequences and fallout.

And then they did it again. They knew there would be skeptics and critics, questioning what the hell they were doing. But instead of delaying for the offseason to address it, they prioritized the long-term health of Westbrook and made the decision with only that in mind.

I’d say it worked out pretty well for them, and Westbrook.

The Thunder could’ve taken a different measure here with Durant. They could’ve rested him the next few weeks, then put him back on the practice floor and tried to ease him back on the floor for the postseason. That option was absolutely on the table.

But in collaboration with literally three of the top foot and ankle specialists in the world, the consensus was to go ahead and take the steps to end Durant’s season and do the bone graft. Instead of risking anything in his future, they’re going to just take advantage of the coming offseason which should let him completely heal, and then start over next season.

3. Where do the Thunder go from here?

Well, next season should be interesting, right? Potentially one season of Durant left for the Thunder, and it’s coming off a season in which he played only 27 games and had three surgeries. No pressure, you guys.

I do think in an unintentional way, this whole situation could help the Thunder with their future recruitment of Durant. Look at it like this: Everyone knew coming into this year this could conceivably be one of two shots the Thunder had left with Durant. And with the moves they made at the deadline, and the level Westbrook has gone to, if they could get Durant back on the floor with Serge Ibaka returning to make the roster finally whole, even as the eight-seed, they would’ve been a threat to win it all. It had to be tempting to just roll the dice to take this shot.

Instead, the Thunder opted for shutting Durant down, leaving them only the one shot left next season. That’s a pretty bold move, isn’t it? And one Durant has to realize. The Thunder basically told him, we care about you and your career, and want to have you healthy for the next 10 years.

Now, on the flip side, maybe you say Durant looks at this as the Thunder were incompetent which put him in this position to start with. Problem with this is, the Thunder operate medically in a very collaborative method, using input from the player and his representation in concert with their own medical staff. That’s why all these guys have these surgeries in North Carolina and Los Angeles and New York. It’s because the players’ agents are picking surgeons they like and are comfortable with. So if you want to blame the Thunder, really, I guess you can blame them for working with the players and their agents.

4. Should the Thunder just tank?

First, lol. Imagine that conversation with Russell Westbrook.

“Hey Russ, here’s what we’re thinking: We’re going to ‘rest’ you against the Suns on Sunday, and maybe a few other games. Just want to be safe with all this injury stuff going on, you know what I mean? Wait, why are you getting up? Why are you grabbing my stapler? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Second, what message does that send to your roster? The Thunder have always been an organization that tries to present itself as bigger than a single player, and if you tried to pull back now, you couldn’t do it and look in the mirror anymore. You’d basically be telling everyone they aren’t good enough. (In fairness, they probably aren’t, but still.)

Third, this is great experience for a still very young roster. It’s great for Westbrook to lead and see what he can do. It’s great for Enes Kanter to potentially get some big game and playoff experience. It’s great for Anthony Morrow to do the same. Great for Andre Roberson, Steven Adams, Dion Waiters, Mitch McGary and the rest of the young guys. If you lose your pick, so be it. What you can gain over the next month is worth it.

5. Do they have any chance?

Actually, I’d give them one. A chance, at least. Not a big one, but one regardless. They aren’t winning three road series without Kevin Durant, but, I think they can give the Warriors a series. Westbrook is that good, and they should have Serge Ibaka back in the next couple weeks. There are some matchup advantages the Thunder can create, and it’s been showcased the last few weeks that they can score with just about anyone. It’s about consistent defense, and while it’s hard to really expect it to start, getting Ibaka back will help immensely.

The Warriors will almost assuredly win the series. But I think it’ll take them six or seven games to do it. The Thunder are really deep and have a bunch of weapons. The Warriors will stretch them thin and wear them out all over the floor, but those nights where Westbrook is humming and the shooters are hot could produce something like we saw against the Hawks last week. At least maybe once or twice.

I think it makes some people feel better to wallow in self pity and say things like, “The Warriors are going to SMASH the Thunder.” But I’d caution giving up on this team. Especially Russell Westbrook.

One more…

6. How many emails am I going to get from the lunatic Nike-is-the-devil guy?

We’re at three today already, so I’m guessing probably about a million.