Kevin Durant's Extended Absence Leaves Russell Westbrook in Charge...for Good

There's no way to know if Kevin Durant will be the same Kevin Durant the next time he graces an NBA court; at least some medical experts seem confident he will be, and since they know more about foot fractures and bone grafts than I do, I'll roll with their optimism.

Here's what I can tell the medical experts—and anyone else—to be confident about as well: if and when Durant returns, it will be to an Oklahoma City Thunder team with a different power structure. There still will be a place for Durant very near the top of the pyramid. Just not at the very tippy-top.

Durant is expected to miss the next 4-6 months, as the Thunder announced, to allow a bone graft to do what pins and screws could not—heal the broken bone in his foot. As a result, Russell Westbrook is about to move into the corner office and switch out the gold name plate for good.

Some might argue: Well, that depends. Let’s see how much success they have with Westbrook leading the way.

With someone else playing some other position, that might be plausible. Not with Westbrook. Not as the Thunder's point guard. Not after watching him strain at the leash of being Mister 1B to Durant's 1A for years. Not after watching him this season enjoy the freedom, for the first time in his NBA career, of not playing with Durant. (In their first six seasons together, Durant missed all of 14 games.)

Unhitched from having to make sure Durant got his touches or on the premise he soon would be getting them again, Westbrook has treated the rest of the Oklahoma City roster as his personal menu from which to pick indiscriminately. As a point guard, of course, it is at his discretion, and it's his duty to do exactly that.

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

The connection he has developed with Enes Kanter, the center acquired at the trade deadline from the Utah Jazz, already has been documented. With Durant out for the foreseeable future, it is incumbent upon Westbrook to incorporate small forward Kyle Singler and shooting guard Dion Waiters, two other pieces acquired this season, into his Wi-Fi network. Singler and Waiters assuredly will play amplified roles in Durant's stead over the next 10 games and into the playoffs, should the Thunder get there.

No one's role will expand more, though, than Westbrook's. A case could be made that he has merely been borrowing that corner office, that he hasn't been able to move in his personal belongings at any point because there was the specter that Durant was just down the hallway or out on assignment. Now? Westbrook has the unconditional green light he's long sought.

All of which means this protracted absence could have a whipsaw effect on Durant's decision to re-up with OKC when he becomes a free agent next summer. On one hand, the idea of returning to the team as Mister 1B rather than 1A might just be too hard to accept. On another, the number of teams ready to hitch their future to his could be impacted by when he comes back and what he looks like when he does.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Medical experts and Thunder GM Sam Presti can spout all the optimism they want about the high rate of success such bone grafts have, but the fact is that by needing one—as opposed to healing via hardware—Durant already drops into a small and unenviable subset of challenged healers. 

All of that will have to wait until Durant is back and playing again. Only then can anyone know for sure if he's still the same Durant or begin to forecast just how long the list of free-agent suitors will be. The waiting is over, though, for Westbrook. He has his team, at long last, and now it's only a matter of what he is going to do with it.

Knowing Westbrook, giving it back is not up for consideration.   

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.