Amid the NBA’s hiatus, the community has their eyes set on the future — not only the remainder of this season, but the next.
After all of this, it will be nice to see the league start fresh again in October (assuming the start date doesn’t change). When it does start back, we’ll get to see some stars who have been out for most of the 2019-20 campaign, including Kevin Durant.
Since suffering a torn Achilles in the 2019 Finals, he is set to miss the remainder of this basketball season as he nurses his leg back to health. And, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, we could see him play center when he finally makes his return to the court.
Vaughn is an interim who wants the job full-time. The best way to do that is by finding the starting five that best accentuates Durant and Irving, basketball-wise and chemistry-wise.
If 6-foot-11 rookie Nic Claxton develops as expected, and Durant sees time as a rim-protecting stretch five — his 1.8 blocks in 2017-18 far exceed Allen’s career-high — it could leave either Jordan or Allen superfluous. And it strains credulity to think Jordan is going anywhere.
Obviously, Lewis notes the uncertain future of young big man Jarrett Allen, whose mental motivation lacks at times.
Durant’s height and wingspan make Allen expendable. As unstoppable as he is on offense, Durant is also a premier defender. While it remains to be seen how his athleticism will be affected by his latest injury, it makes sense that the Nets would experiment with him at the five.
It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
