The MRI results are in but even before the news broke, the Golden State Warriors were preparing for life without Kevin Durant.
The Warriors announced Durant is out indefinitely with a tibial bone bruise and grade two MCL sprain. He’ll be reevaluated in four weeks, and a regular-season return has not been ruled out.
Stephen Curry suffered a grade one MCL sprain last year and missed four playoff games. Grade two sprains are worse, usually requiring two to six weeks for recovery.
The playoffs start in six weeks. The second round starts in eight weeks. A potential third straight Finals appearance would be roughly 12 weeks away. With home-court advantage, Golden State would certainly still be favoured to win a round or two even with Durant sidelined, buying the former MVP time to heal. If Durant doesn’t come back at all, the West suddenly becomes considerably more unpredictable.
Durant was hurt on the second play of the game against his hometown Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. Marcin Gortat shoved Zaza Pachulia while chasing an offensive rebound. The collision caused the Pachulia to fall back into his Durant’s left knee. After 93 more seconds of action, Durant limped off the court.
The 28-year-old has a long injury history but it doesn’t include any previous knee issues. Despite that fact, Bob Myers and company worked immediately to find some insurance, signing 36-year-old veteran Matt Barnes.
In 54 games with the Kings this season, Barnes averaged 7.6 points with 2.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds, and shot 32.7 per cent from three. His real value, though, lies in his defensive versatility and playoff experience.
Adding Barnes forced the Warriors to abandon their quest for a back-up point guard and renege on their verbal agreement to bring in former Raptor Jose Calderon. The team will, however, honour their commitment to sign him, ensuring he’ll get his salary for the rest of the year. They’ll then immediately waive him to make space for Barnes.
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The Durant injury makes the Cleveland Cavaliers’ buyout additions of Andrew Bogut and Deron Williams look even better. The Cavs have now added Bogut, Williams, Kyle Korver and Derrick Williams to a roster that beat Golden State in the Finals last season without losing much.
Bogut is still an elite high-post passer and rim protector. The Dallas Mavericks posted a defensive rating of 97.4 with Bogut on the court and a 108.5 rating without him.
Deron Williams is still an effective pick-and-roll player, and is averaging 13.1 points and 6.9 assists. Although he shot just 34.8 per cent on three-pointers in 40 games with the Mavericks, he’s shooting 47 per cent from the floor in pick-and-roll action according to Synergy.
Once Kevin Love and J.R. Smith return from their respective injuries, the Cavs will have quality depth off the bench.
Durant’s injury shouldn’t affect seeding before the playoffs. Even after dropping that game in Washington (with Durant mostly sidelined), the Warriors still have a four-game lead over San Antonio in the West. But what might the loss mean in the playoffs?
In order to land Durant, Golden State’s front office sacrificed its “strength in numbers” approach, basically letting go of their entire bench. Gone from the 73-win Warriors of a year ago are Bogut, Leandro Barbosa, Festus Ezeli, Brandon Rush, Marreese Speights and Anderson Varejao. But this season, the Warriors have still found a way to get a boost from their reserves. The 2015-16 bench outscored teams by 5.1 points per 100 possessions. Going into the game against Washington, this year’s second unit have improved that number to 6.7 points per 100 possessions.
The injury will open up playing time for Golden State rookie Patrick McCaw. He’s struggled from three, making just 34.1 per cent of his deeps looks this season, with that number dipping to 22.2 per cent in his last two games. But at six-foot-seven, he is a long and active defender. He also becomes a secondary ball handler when on the floor. For Raptors fans, think of a mixture of Delon Wright and Andre Igoudala.
The injury also helps the MVP candidacies of Russell Westbrook and James Harden as Durant’s all-around game and winning record made him a dark-horse candidate. Missing a quarter of the season will affect Durant’s bid to be an all-NBA player, but because of his years of service, the amount he can make in free agency won’t be affected.
The Durant injury makes things interesting but not concerning for Dub Nation — and it should be heartening for Warriors fans that he’ll avoid going under the knife. Plus, let’s not forget that without him the Warriors still have three healthy all-stars, more than any other team in the league.