It remains unknown whether or not the 2019-20 NBA season will resume, but if it does it will be without Nets star Kevin Durant.
Durant has been sidelined since game five of the 2019 Finals with an Achilles injury.
When the Nets signed Durant last off-season to a four year, $164,255,700 deal, they knew he was going to be rehabbing the entire 2019-20 season.
But the Nets obviously did not foresee that the season was going to be suspended.
Durant may be making progress in his rehab given the extra time with the season on hold, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says that there’s no way the Nets would allow him to return this season no matter his health.
“Kevin Durant’s not coming back this year,” he said Sunday on The Woj Pod.
“That’s not happening…they’re not playing him.”
Full audio of The Woj Pod with @Rachel__Nichols and @BobbyMarks42: https://t.co/HtSoAT57RY pic.twitter.com/ZkWE6WRlhP
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 10, 2020
The Nets have a lot riding on Durant and fellow injured star Kyrie Irving.
In the final year of their deals, Durant and Irving will be making a combined salary upwards of $73,000,000, which is roughly 65% of the current cap.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has already notified teams that they should be prepared for the cap to shrink in the coming years due to the coronavirus pandemic.