Kevin Durant underwent surgery on his ruptured Achilles, an injury with an average recovery time of about nine months.
But it sounds as if Durant’s injury is more severe.
It’s still early in the process. I’m not as certain Durant will miss the entire season. Especially if his team next season advances deep in the playoffs, there’d be more time for him to recover and return.
But if that’s the prognosis right now, that adds even more heartache to this devastating situation.
Durant sacrificed so much for Golden State. His career will probably never be the same.
At least he’ll still have max offers in free agency this summer. Even if he wants a short deal, he’ll probably have better options than opting in.
If he re-signs with the Warriors, they’d get a disabled-player exception if an NBA-appointed doctor rules Durant is “substantially more likely than not” to remain out through June 15, 2020. It seems unlikely Durant would meet that standard, but the league is typically lenient with granting disabled-player exceptions. The exception – which would be worth the same amount as the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (projected to be about $9 million) – would come in quite handy for a team needing better depth.
If Durant signs elsewhere, his new team would not be eligible for a disabled-player exception, because he suffered the injury prior to joining the team.
