The basketball world will be without Kevin Durant likely for an entire year.
Durant's ruptured Achilles tendon comes right before he's set to become a free agent, too. But the devastating injury reportedly won't change how to teams view him on the open market.
"I don't think it's going to change one thing," an Eastern Conference executive said to Bleacher Report's Ken Berger. "Some teams have been setting themselves up for this and preparing for Durant to choose them, and I think those teams are too deep into it now. I don't think they can turn back."
Durant has a $31.5 million option for next season with the Warriors. He could opt-in, have the Warriors pay to have him recover for a year and then his free agency again in 2020. That isn't too likely, however.
"I think opting in is the last resort," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said Wednesday morning on Get Up. "That's really if [he] couldn't find any other team to commit to [him] on a contract ... I still think there's going to be a market for Kevin Durant to get a long-term -- whether it's max or near-max contract."
[RELATED: How long KD's recovery from ruptured Achilles might take]
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The Warriors can offer Durant a five-year, $221 million max contract if he opts out. A max offer from any other team will be worth around $164 million over four years.
Durant, who turns 31 in September, has proven himself to not only be one of the best players in the NBA right now, but of all time. Despite his injury, expect the Warriors, Knicks, or anybody else to still offer Durant the top dollars on the market.
