Kevin Durant’s Achilles injury he suffered last night not only affects the NBA Finals, but the LA Clippers and all of NBA free agency.
Where to even start. Kevin Durant‘s Achilles injury is a horrible situation for all involved. Durant, in a heroic effort, decided (along with the Golden State staff) to play in Monday night’s game five. The result? Likely a torn Achilles which will not only force him to miss the remainder of the NBA Finals, but likely all of next season as well.
The Warriors believe Kevin Durant’s MRI on Tuesday will confirm a torn right Achilles’ tendon, league sources tell me and @wojespn
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 11, 2019
This injury obviously affects Durant (who can opt into free agency), but also the league at whole. With just a few weeks until teams can begin to court players, the absence of Durant next season is casting a shadow on the whole process. For the LA Clippers and any others looking to acquire his services, there now may be some second guessing.
Durant is arguably the best player in the league currently, but at what point do you consider not giving him a max contract? Assuming this injury is in fact a tear, when he is able to return, KD will be approaching 32 years old and will be coming off one of the most difficult injuries to recover from. If it weren’t Kevin Durant, I don’t see many willing to hand out that money.
There’s also the possibility KD exercises his player option to stay in Golden State and rehab next season. By doing this (or re-signing on a one year deal), he completely changes what we all expected to happen this summer. In theory, he could even decide to stay with the Warriors long-term, opening up the possibility that Klay Thompson leaves this summer or Draymond Green does the next.
The biggest ripple through the league won’t be Durant’s decision itself, but all that follow. If he decides to stay, teams like New York, Brooklyn and the Clippers may have to re-adjust their plans. LA seemingly still has Kawhi as their number one target, but Brooklyn had cleared cap space for two max level guys and the Knicks have been long rumored to be Durant’s free agency destination to be paired with another star.
Does this mean more “B-tier” get handed more money? Do the Nets go and sign Kyrie Irving and then instead of trying to lure Durant, sign someone like Tobias Harris to a max deal? How does the Anthony Davis trade market change? AD clarified that he only wants to go to the Knicks or the Lakers, but with no KD on the court in New York all but guaranteed next year, does he still want to go to the Big Apple?
The next few weeks will be interesting, to say the least. An injury to one of the league’s biggest stars just changed everything we expected. Now, all we can do is wait on Durant to decide his future and ride the wave that comes after.