As the Brooklyn Nets have struggled to find their identity, they’ve found success in a strange area: trades. They acquired Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on consecutive nights, but with each trade that was made another piece of Brooklyn’s puzzle fell into place.
The “kevin durant injury 2021” is a blessing in disguise for the Brooklyn Nets. The team has been struggling recently, and this will give them time to rebuild.
Fans of the Brooklyn Nets may be feeling like the sky is falling right now. Their team has lost seven of its previous 11 games, Kyrie Irving is still not a full-time player owing to his refusal to be vaccinated, and Kevin Durant has damaged his MCL and will be sidelined for four to six weeks.
By the time Durant returns to the floor, the Nets may have dropped to the No. 6 or No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, but it might be a gift in disguise for their next playoff run.
Kevin Durant has an MCL injury and will be sidelined for four to six weeks.
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When Bruce Brown collided with Kevin Durant’s knee and knocked him out of the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night, Nets supporters feared the worst. Brooklyn’s championship chances would have gone up in smoke if Durant had suffered a season-ending injury on the play.
Durant, on the other hand, escaped the worst-case scenario and was diagnosed with a sprained MCL in his left knee the next day. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he is likely to be out for four to six weeks.
With KD out of the lineup, Nets head coach Steve Nash remarked on Monday that there’s no time for whining.
“All we have to do now is do our best.” According to ESPN, Nash added, “We can’t weep over it.” “We can’t be pity parties for ourselves.” We’ve got to keep growing, see what we can learn and how we can grow during Kevin’s and Joe’s absences, and how we can keep moving this thing ahead so that when they return, we’ll be in a better position.”
However, by the time Durant returns, the Nets are expected to be in a worse position in terms of playoff seeding. This is why it may be a good thing.
Why Kevin Durant’s injury may be a good thing for the Nets
The Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving watch Game 5 of their Eastern Conference playoff series against the Boston Celtics. | Sarah Stier/Getty Images
On the surface, losing Durant for at least a month seems to be a negative for the Nets, but let’s dig a bit deeper to see if there are any silver linings.
For one thing, the next few weeks will be critical for young role players like Cam Thomas and David Duke to acquire experience and confidence ahead of a playoff run.
But, more crucially, the Nets should aim to lose position in the Eastern Conference rankings in the next month. Given that Irving is limited to playing outside of New York this season, Brooklyn should aim for a lower seed so that they may play the bulk of their playoff games on the road.
Consider that for a moment.
The Eastern Conference’s No. 6 or No. 7 seed would be a perfect landing location for the Nets. In that scenario, the Nets could have Irving on the floor for four games (if necessary) in each postseason series all the way to the NBA Finals. Obviously, the Nets would not intentionally tank for a lower seed in the regular season, but they could easily drop a few positions without Durant in the court during the next four to six weeks.
Losing would be a victory for the Nets.
The Nets return from the All-Star break on February 24, which is a reasonable deadline for Durant’s return, but the team will definitely err on the side of caution when it comes to a timeframe with him. With 11 of the next 14 games on the road, Kyrie Irving and James Harden will be playing together a lot.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 16, 2022
With Durant’s injured MCL, he may miss at least 16 games, and given how close the Eastern Conference competition is right now, the Nets might tumble from third to seventh place in that time.
The Brooklyn Nets are just 0.5 game behind the Chicago Bulls for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they are only two games clear of the No. 6 seed Philadelphia 76ers and 3.5 games ahead of the No. 7 seed Charlotte Hornets. Over the next three weeks, there is plenty of space for change.
Even if the Nets start to fall behind in the standings without KD, they shouldn’t be concerned. Irving’s greatest chance of winning a championship in 2022 is if he’s healthy and available, so why not give him as many playoff games as possible?
Chess, not checkers, is the game.
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Kevin Durant’s injury is likely to keep the Brooklyn Nets star out of the NBA MVP race.
The “kevin durant wife” is a question that has been on the minds of many basketball fans for quite some time. The injury to Kevin Durant could be a blessing in disguise for the Brooklyn Nets.
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