Nets aspire for title if Durant, Irving back for playoffs: Dinwiddie
Spencer Dinwiddie understands that expectations are raised to championship if Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving return for the playoffs. But the [Brooklyn] Nets guard is unsure what his star teammates will decide.
“That’s the billion dollar question. But that’s not something I can answer,” Dinwiddie said Wednesday morning on ESPN’s First Take.
“I know they’re both working really hard. They’re two of the hardest working in the NBA on the court, and two phenomenal players. If they are able to return and that’s the decision they make, our aspirations turn from playoffs to championship.
“If they’re not able to return, which they’ve pretty much said that’s kind of the stance that they’re taking, we still want to be a team that grinds to get to the playoffs and makes a run in the playoffs. But we also understand the talent they add with being two of the top-10 players in the league and [Kevin Durant] being, in my opinion, the greatest scorer of all time.”
Durant hasn’t played since tearing his Achilles a year ago and Irving underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in March. Both should be physically recovered by the time the NBA is scheduled to resume in July, and Durant was filmed exploding for a dunk in a scrimmage nearly three months ago.
The NBA has yet to formalise any plans for a return, but the different proposals include the resumption of an abbreviated regular season, a straight-to-playoffs tournament, a re-seeding of the playoff teams regardless of conference and a play-in tournament.
The Nets are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference at 30-34. Dinwiddie said the decision to play lies with Durant. “He’s going to make that decision. It’s a really personal decision,” he said. “And he’s earned that right with the type of career he’s had to really only prove something to himself at this point.”
Although an Achilles tear has devastated NBA careers, Dinwiddie is convinced Durant will return as a star. “I look at it like this: At 80 percent, he’s Dirk Nowitzki. At 100 percent, he’s the best scorer of all time, and anywhere in between, he’s still, what, a top-three small forward in the league” Dinwiddie said.