Jordan: Durant progressing fast

DeAndre Jordan was supposed to be part of the Knicks’ edge in bringing Kevin Durant to the Garden before he jumped ship to join the crosstown-rival Nets, along with fellow free agents Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Now Jordan is talking about not only his new team, but also his old friend — and how Durant is recovering from his ruptured Achilles, arguably the mostwatched body part in New York City.

“We’ve got a lot of talent on this team,” Jordan told Gothamist during a promotional event Wednesday at a Dunkin’ in Midtown Manhattan. “You know obviously Kevin had a tough injury, he’s going to be out for a while, but he’s progressing great, he’s recovering fast, we’ll be even better when we get him back and healthy.”

Durant ruptured his Achilles playing for the Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and Golden State coach Steve Kerr proclaimed him out for the entirety of the 2019-20 season. But The Post has reported the possibility Durant simply will miss most of the campaign, and Nets general manager Sean Marks refused to rule out the possibility of the 10-time All-Star playing this coming season.

Jordan didn’t predict Durant would be back this coming season, but he knows the two-time NBA MVP well and was bullish on the progress he has been making during his rehab. And Durant himself hasn’t been shy about sharing visual evidence of his work on social media.

Jordan — who ended last season with the Knicks — was expected to be a secret weapon in helping lure Durant and Irving in free agency. The three have been close since winning Olympic gold together in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. But instead of Durant and Irving joining Jordan at the Garden, the trio got together behind the scenes and teamed up to go to Brooklyn.

Jordan even went in with Irving as a business partner, investing in a company called Beyond Meat, which has seen its stock price skyrocket 720 percent since it went public in May. brian.lewis@nypost.com