Thunder SF Kevin Durant may miss rest of season
![Thunder forward Kevin Durant has been out since Feb. 19.](/https/www.usatoday.com/gcdn/-mm-/2087ca673a17a1bd1a7fca02fd8ae163e4fd86b0/c=0-159-4253-2562/local/-/media/2015/03/20/USATODAY/USATODAY/635624525041117417-USATSI-8443940.jpg?width=660&height=373&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Reigning MVP Kevin Durant could be out for the season.
Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti said at a news conference on Friday that the continued soreness in Durant's ailing right foot is not improving and the possibility remains that he may not return before season's end.
"I think the most important thing is to say that he's not going to be playing right now," Presti told reporters at the team's practice facility. "When he's healthy to play, and when he's able to return without that soreness, he'll be back on the floor. If that takes the rest of the regular season, if that takes the rest of the playoffs, that's what it's going to take. As I said before, the health and wellness of our players is the most important thing."
Durant, who suffered a Jones fracture in his right foot before training camp and has played in just 27 games this season, underwent a procedure last month to replace a screw in the right foot that had been inserted during his initial surgery. The Thunder, who are also without forward Serge Ibaka (knee surgery) for the next four to six weeks, are currently one game ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Thunder are 18-9 when Durant plays this season, 20-21 when he doesn't. But many of those losses came while All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook also was out, and the Thunder are 15-11 when Westbrook plays and Durant does not.
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Judging by Presti's tone, they certainly can't count on Durant coming back to help them make this final push.
"The goal is to get him back on the court healthy, whenever that is," Presti said. "The last thing on our mind is ever putting a player in a position to try to win a ballgame at the expense of their health. That's the furthest thing from our radar.
"Unless he's able to be back on the floor without soreness, he won't be back on the floor."
Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.
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