Thunder F Durant cleared to play

Forward Serge Ibaka missed the last several games of last season with knee surgery and rookie guard Cameron Payne missed summer league games with a broken finger. Durant has been working his way back from the foot injury and has planned to be back for the beginning of the season all along but now it seems as though that is a guarantee.

“Kevin is cleared and has been playing without restrictions in 5-on-5 drills”, Presti said at a news conference. In Durant’s absence, Russell Westbrook achieved almost-MVP levels but Oklahoma City fell just short of making the playoffs in a stacked Western Conference. When Durant was healthy enough to play (27 games), he averaged 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists. “In terms of limitations, he doesnt have any.

The 26-year-old Durant is in the past year of a five-season $89.16 million (AU$ 127.22 million) contract he signed with the Thunder in 2011. Personally I don’t have a problem with it as I think it adds a level of excitement to certain match-ups and builds rivalries.

After a forgettable and injury-plauged 2014-15, Kevin Durant is officially cleared with no restrictions.

The Thunder are unlikely to force Durant to play heavy minutes, and much would depend on how he is able to cope up, together with a general assessment coming from the coaching and medical staff. In an appearance on the Freddie Coleman Show (h/t Anthony Slater, The Oklahoman), Green said Durant is an underrated trash-talker. “[But] we are going to be really diligent about how those minutes are distributed and when”. His union with The Players’ Tribune allows him to control his thoughts on free agency. In order to be an elite team this year and win at a high level, that attitude must be in place from the start of training camp until the final buzzer sounds at the end of the season. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!