The free agency period is finally starting to die down. All the big time free agents have locked in their new deals, leaving the lowly Lakers and Knicks to pick up the pieces.
Kevin Durant has watched it all, the Playoffs, the Draft, the free agency all while trying to rehab and get in shape for possibly the most important year of his career. He spoke to Royce Young of ESPN.com to talk about it all.
Do you have an update on your foot and where’s it at now?
“We’re close to Phase 3 now. There’s three phases in the rehab. It’s going well. I’m shooting, jumping when I’m shooting, not quite running and cutting yet, but I’m almost there. It’s going well. I’m excited.”
Still on track to be back in August?
“Looking like it. We’re doing X-rays every two weeks and it’s looking good. So I’m excited to get back, man. There’s no pain and looking forward to getting back.“
Young noticed that KD had put a bit of weight on, which could help Durant, but isn’t likely to be muscle weight. They then went on to talk about the free agency, particularly LaMarcus Aldridge’s move to San Antonio. This is where everybody thinks they’re an analyst and thinks that it links to him and Washington.
Were you surprised to see LaMarcus Aldridge move?
“No, I wasn’t. You could kind of tell once this whole thing started that he was trying to go somewhere else. But in those decisions, man, you’ve just got to respect the guy for making a decision that was right for him. I know a lot of fans were probably upset in Portland with the decision. But at this point of your life and your career, you’ve got to focus on you. I said this last year when Mr. James made his decision, it was pretty cool to see a guy do what he wants to do and not worry about what everybody thinks.”
When you see all the attention LaMarcus and DeAndre [Jordan] have gotten the past few days, have you thought at all about next summer and yourself?
“No I haven’t thought about it. I hear it all the time but I really am just focusing on rehab. I can’t get there unless I take care of today. That’s the way I look at it even though I hear it from every side, thinking past to next summer. But I’m not even trying to focus on that. I’m excited about our team, our new coaches and just trying to get back right.“
Whether he leaves or not isn’t the question. Not yet anyway. Right now, we have to see how he’ll do now that the Spurs are legit again, (after losing one Playoff series) the Warriors being champions and obviously the Cavs.
But seriously. Can the Spurs not be terrible for at least a year?! Just when they show signs of dying, they’re rejuvenated. Unbelievable!
