Kevin Durant is expected to miss Team USA’s exhibition game against Australia in Abu Dhabi on Monday, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Durant has been dealing with a calf strain, and he missed yet another practice on Saturday as Team USA prepares for a warmup match against one of the Olympic field’s best teams. Still, Steve Kerr is not worried about Durant’s status for the actual tournament, which begins in late July.
“I know there’s still a couple of weeks before we have to make a decision roster-wise,” Kerr said. “So we’re just taking it day by day.” While Derrick White has replaced the injured Kawhi Leonard for Team USA, Kerr has thus far signaled that he expects Durant to be available when the games count and that the team is not yet planning for a replacement.
“It’s not something we’ve even discussed at this point because we feel good that [Durant] is going to be OK,” Kerr said.
After the Australia matchup, Team USA still has one more exhibition game against the top competition. On Wednesday, it will face Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. They close out their warmup slate with an exhibition against South Sudan on July 20. Durant had previously been hopeful of playing against Australia, but there is no indication yet as to whether or not he will be available against Serbia. He missed last Wednesday’s exhibition victory over Canada.
If Team USA does need to replace Durant before the tournament begins, an obvious candidate would be Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, who publicly grumbled about missing out when Team USA named Celtics teammate Derrick White to the roster instead of him. White shares a position with Leonard and Durant, and White, a small guard, does not replicate either of their skill sets.
However, if Brown’s cryptic social media comments have turned Team USA off, there are still several viable options to replace Durant if they need to. Team USA named a 41-player pool of options before whittling the roster down to 12. Of those 41 players, 27 remain if you exclude all currently rostered players, Leonard, White and Brown: Jarrett Allen, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Jimmy Butler, Alex Caruso, De’Aaron Fox, Paul George, Aaron Gordon, James Harden, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Brandon Ingram, Kyrie Irving, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson and Trae Young.
For now, though, Team USA’s hope is clearly to get Durant back on the floor. In addition to being an NBA star, Durant is Team USA’s all-time leading scorer in Olympic play with 435 points. He has won three gold medals and is playing for his fourth, and he has never missed an Olympics since making the team for the first time in 2012. He has become the mainstay of USA Basketball, and it would take a significant health issue to keep him off of the roster.
