Kevin Durant has been progressing well from his injury and could see action Tuesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans after undergoing through most of the Oklahoma City Thunder's practice on Saturday and looking just as good before suffering the foot fracture. If he returns into action, he will be welcomed by All-Star teammate Russell Westbrook who is also back from an injury and a 5-12 Thunder team that sunk in the bottom of the Western Conference standings after missing their super star duo early in the season.
Oklahoma City is still five games behind the 8th seed Phoenix Suns in the loaded West and are 7 games below .500 but they have more than enough time to pile up some wins and push the team back into playoff positioning. Still, the West is loaded and it would certainly be difficult for OKC to secure a playoff seed given their rought star and the fact that it would require at least 50 games for a team to book a playoff ticket in the West. And even if Durant and Westbrook manages to will the team to one of the 6-7 seeds, the Thunder won't be able to enjoy home court advantage in the entire playoffs - something that they will need if they want to contend for the title.
What's even more intriguing, if Oklahoma will again fall short of winning a championship this season, they risk losing Durant in free agency two summers from now according to Sam Amick of USA Today:
Just as so many believed that the odds of LeBron James becoming a free agent last summer would increase with a loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals, the widely-held belief around the league now is that the odds of Durant leaving Oklahoma City will spike if he doesn't win a title (or two) in the next two seasons.
And numerous teams, particularly the Washington Wizards, Durant's hometown, would surely take a shot at the reigning MVP in free agency making the recent losses a much welcome pattern. What's more, Durant has already made it known that he'll sign with the Thunder or Wizards and it won't surely be hard for him to sign with the latter if he, yet again, fails to win an NBA title or two with OKC this season and the next.
As Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report puts it:
If there is thought around the league that Durant may leave without a title, what would happen if the Thunder didn't even make the playoffs this season?
Indeed, it would truly be intriguing to know if the Thunder's missing the playoffs this season will have an impact on Durant's decision when he becomes a free agent two summers from now.
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