NBA Training Camp 2015: Kevin Durant Cleared for All Basketball Activities, OKC Thunder GM Confirms
Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti announced that four-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant has been cleared for all training camp activities this offseason. The good news was posted on NBA.com's official Twitter account.
GM Sam Presti announces that Kevin Durant is fully cleared for @OKCThunder Training Camp! pic.twitter.com/WABrPnIwBB
— NBA (@NBA) September 23, 2015
Royce Young of ESPN recently caught up with Presti at his pre-season media conference to expound on the matter.
"He feels great. Looks great. It's great to have him back on the floor," the 39-year old general manager said. "Happy for him because he's been so committed and so disciplined to that process of getting back on the floor."
To say that Durant had one breakout year in the NBA would be redundant. The 6'10" forward had been nearly untouchable on the offensive end of the court during his first seven seasons in the league. However, he was at his statistical best during the 2013-14 season when he averaged 32 points and six assists per game en route to become NBA MVP that year.
The opposite was the case for Durant during the Thunder's 2014-15 campaign. Last season saw him hobbled with several injuries. He suffered a Jones fracture on his right foot at the start of season, which made him miss the team's first 17 games.
Durant eventually returned for 27 games and even average 25.4 points on 51 percent shooting. But the comeback was short-lived when he sprained his left big toe in January.
The following month, Durant was asked to put on hold any basketball activities after he had undergone minor surgery to reduce discomfort in his repaired right foot. Finally, in March, the Thunder management decided to rule him out for the rest of the season following his decision to undergo another foot procedure.
Fast forward to this offseason, Durant has apparently recuperated well enough to merit the confidence of the Thunder's management and coaching staff to include him in team practices. But to what extent? Presti's answers only seem to delight Thunder fans even more.
According to Presti, Durant has been practicing without restrictions lately. He has even participated in five-on-five drills. However, Presti was quick to input a word of caution. He said that affording players with ample recovery time during practices is one of the management's main priorities.
As to how many minutes will be allocated for Durant once the upcoming NBA season begins, Presti said that it's for the coaching and medical staff members to decide.
"Average minutes? I don't know. I think that's the most important thing. Are there going to be games where he plays more than the average? Probably... But he's going to play a lot of minutes because he can, but we're going to be really diligent with how those minutes will be distributed."
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