With the harsh reality of a fresh injury sinking in, the Phoenix Suns will be without Kevin Durant for at least three weeks, so what will he miss?
When the injury happened, I knew I had to double-check the calendar and see if it was April Fool’s Day. The idea that the Suns’ new acquisition, one of the greatest players of all time, KD, would be injured in warm-ups seemed nonsensical. After double-checking my watch and receiving several similar tweets, it was unbelievably true that Durant was hurt in warm-ups ahead of his home opener.
The hopes of the Suns’ nation of a walk-it-off injury were dashed
Following the initial injury the question was just how severe the ankle problem was. The fact that Durant finished his warm-up and everyone else seemed to think he was fine led most to believe he would be out only briefly. However, as video of the incident surfaced, it was evident that Durant did more lightly roll his ankle; he full-on sprained it.
After Kevin Durant's injury, we wonder if perhaps the Sports Gods really do hate Arizona pic.twitter.com/WbIWsfUqD2
— Bickley & Marotta Mornings on Arizona Sports (@Bickley_Marotta) March 9, 2023
As the idea that his injury was more severe than less started to come to light, the Suns updated us all with the news that Durant would be re-evaluated in three weeks.
INJURY UPDATE: Further evaluation has confirmed that Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant has sustained a left ankle sprain. He will be re-evaluated in three weeks.
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 10, 2023
We know KD will miss at least three weeks, which gives us some of what the Suns will face, and we know it is not great. The timing could hardly be worse, with Phoenix in the middle of a battle for homecourt in at least the first round of the playoffs.
We know that Durant will be re-evaluated in three weeks, which likely means from the day of the tweet, but we will use the day of the injury, March 8, to make things easier. If Durant returns 21 days after the initial injury, that would be at home on March 29 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The best case timeline for a KD return
This absolute best case – and likely unrealistic – scenario leaves KD missing the next nine games. With only 16 games left in the season, nine is a significant amount, and unfortunately, Durant will likely miss more than 21 calendar days.
If he is re-evaluated on the 29th, KD likely would not have been playing any basketball and would begin his rehab then. Remember with Devin Booker’s injury earlier in the season, even after getting the green light in his re-evaluation, it was a few days before Booker returned and then a few weeks before he was the DBook we all love.
Of course, if Durant is fully healthy and ready, two nights after Minnesota on March 31 – 23 days after the initial injury – the Suns host Denver in the first of two games in Phoenix between the two before the regular season ends.
A more realistic timeline for KD to return
A more realistic return would have Durant coming back after that date. With Phoenix playing essentially every two days until the end of the season from that point forward, Durant will have plenty of opportunities to return at the start of April.
The essential return would be 29 days after the injury on April 6, when Phoenix faces Denver again. A return against the Nuggets in April would give KD and the team three games to come together. Phoenix travels to the Lakers the night after hosting Denver and hosts the Clippers two nights later to end the regular season.
The timing is terrible, but on the good side, the timeline sounds like a Grade 1 sprain, which should mean no lingering effects heading into the postseason. After all, success in the postseason is why Phoenix traded for Durant, although a bit more regular season sample size would be nice.