Will Kevin Durant Return This Season? Chances Brooklyn Nets, Star Are Factors In 2020 NBA Playoffs

The status of Kevin Durant is one of the biggest questions heading into the resumption of the NBA season. The superstar has missed the entire season, but the league’s hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic could potentially allow him to make his debut with the Brooklyn Nets before this year’s playoffs.

Durant tore his Achilles on June 10 in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. He left the Golden State Warriors for the Nets 20 days later under the assumption that he’d miss the entire 2019-2020 season. That was before anyone knew a 142-day break would push the 2020 NBA Finals until October.

Games are supposed to restart on July 31, giving Durant more than 11 months of recovery time. Twenty-two NBA teams, including the Nets, will each play eight regular-season games in Orlando, Florida before the playoffs.

Sportsbooks are preparing for the possibility of Durant to return to the court. The Nets are the East’s No.7 seed with a 30-34 record, but their championship odds have skyrocketed since their last game.

Brooklyn’s odds to win the NBA Finals went from 750/1 to 60/1 at Caesars Sportsbook Wednesday, according to ESPN. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook set the Nets’ title odds at 40/1, putting them on the same tier as the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat, and ahead of the Utah Jazz.

Those championship odds, however, might more accurately reflect the odds that Durant will play in Orlando, giving Brooklyn little chance to make any noise this season.

According to ESPN’s Malika Andrews, there’s no one within the Nets’ organization that expects Durant to suit up for an NBA game this season. Shortly after the season was suspended indefinitely in March, Rich Kleiman, Durant’s manager and business partner, said the idea of Durant playing this season wasn’t very realistic.

Kyrie Irving’s health status probably doesn’t help the chances of Durant playing.

The two superstars would make the Nets dangerous in the playoffs, even after Durant’s 11-month layoff. But it appears unlikely that Durant could play alongside Irving, who underwent surgery on his right shoulder in March.

The recovery could force Irving to miss six months, which would keep him sidelined until the 2020-2021 season.

Irving has only played 20 games this season due to injuries. He is averaging 27.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.

Durant tore his Achilles last year in his first game back after missing a month of playoff games with a calf strain.

The Nets are a half-game ahead of the No.8 seed Orlando Magic and six games ahead of the No.9 seed Washington Wizards. If the No.8 seed and No.9 seed in a conference are separated by fewer than four games when the regular season is finished, they will compete in a short play-in tournament for the right to play in the postseason.

Brooklyn is currently on track to face the defending champion Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.