Kevin Durant injury takes away vital developmental time from Suns. The Phoenix Suns are on a streak. In the past seven weeks, they have gone 16-5. It comes after an injury-ravaged, mid-range, shorthanded portion of the season.
In the middle of that fantastic form that the Suns observed they traded a blockbuster with Kevin Durant prolonged that as Durant was recovering from an MCL injury at his knee. A few weeks ago when he made his debut and played in three straight games before his injury on Wednesday night.
Chris Paul was asked after the victory if his current form is similar to the way Chris Paul speaks about stacking up wins, similar to what the team has done during the previous two seasons and if the same rhythm is back.
Kevin Durant
“I don’t know. Evidently, Kev is a major member of our group,” Paul said. “Anytime he’s not out there or other guys in our rotation, we’re gonna make do, but in order to really see what it looks like consistently, we gotta try and get our guys.”
The Suns will not have long to examine the issue. On Thursday, they announced that Durant will be evaluated again within three weeks following the time Durant injured his left ankle during pregame warmups on Wednesday.
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Three weeks away from the date of Thursday Phoenix will play six times remaining during the season. If Durant is granted the green light for his re-evaluation dateon April 1, it would mean nine games in the regular season for him and the Suns. It could actually be eight, with one back-to-back left over in the last week.
Do they have enough time to build the continuity needed to be a champion? Furthermore, will they be able to create that to winning?
It’s an unfortunate twist of fate to be in this situation after Phoenix managed to keep its roster mostly intact for the last two seasons with the belief that its continuity mattered.
This is the appeal of the sport. If you make an B-tier team in the weeks leading up to an event of immense magnitude and then compare it to the C-tier squad that’s been in place for a few years, it’s likely to favor the former.
We’ve seen Team USA struggle with this sometimes despite the absurd advantages in talent it has. The majority of the time this doesn’t matter. However, the Americans generally experience issues with their growth, as they had in Tokyo the summer before getting the Olympic silver medal.
Kevin Durant along with Devin Booker were on that team as well. They were two of the few players, together with Jrue Holiday who could really work out, and adjust to the format of international football and the roles on the team.
The fact that they are head of snake likely to be a huge advantage. They’re two of best basketball athletes in the world. That’s a large part of what made Kevin Durant trade so appealing aside from the fact that Durant is Kevin Durant.
This isn’t only a collection with players that which the Suns have. Booker, Paul, Deandre Ayton, Torrey Craig and Cam Payne reached the Finals just two years back. Craig returned to the team in mid-season to assist win 64 games during the season. They’ve been tested in battle as well as having Monty Williams’ philosophies and method of operation down to a science.
Kevin Durant isn’t physically heading anywhere, neither. He’ll be attentively watching practices and games, and deciding on particular examples of what is important to him in the last part of April, and later in May. He will be working in the team of brains consisting of Williams and Paul as the time he worked with them recovering from knee injuries.
The Suns returned from the All-Star break with a few tweaks of their own before Durant even got on the floor. They also put more emphasis on space, Booker was bringing the ball higher, and then on.
However, eventually it will have to show up to the court, all in a group. It could be two weeks consecutively perhaps less. The complexity of what they are on both sides isn’t easy. The next step is going to be a matter of understanding how they work with one another and how they fit.
This isn’t a reason to disqualify these Suns group. It’s a fresh challenge to be faced with the learning process which will in a way occur in the midst of.
It could be being the greatest achievement of Kevin Durant career. Maybe it was prior to Wednesday’s accident. The Valley’s absence of a championship banner is a bit more pronounced.
The awe-inspiring quality of his work was always tied to the ease with which he can be integrated in any team, due to his unique talent and ability to change.
The best time to show that than right now.
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