Report: Nets' Kevin Durant Expected to Quarantine Due to COVID Contact Tracing

Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant is expected to quarantine for seven days as a result of COVID-19 contact tracing, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

On Monday, Brooklyn announced Durant will miss Tuesday's game against the Utah Jazz because of health and safety protocols. The Nets currently have three other games scheduled over the course of the next week. 

The NBA established new health and safety protocols for the 2020-21 season amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The protocols include provisions for players and staff who test positive or are close contacts to individuals who test positive, limits on player and staff movement outside of team facilities and penalties for players and staff who break the protocols, among many other guidelines. 

Any health issues involving Durant would be sure to turn heads considering he ruptured his Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors. The injury caused him to miss his entire initial season with the Nets.

When healthy, Durant is arguably the best player in the league. He's a two-time NBA champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, one-time league MVP, four-time scoring champion, nine-time All-NBA selection and 10-time All-Star. It was no wonder Brooklyn signed him to a full four-year, $164 million max contract despite injury concerns after the end of his Warriors tenure, and he has responded with 28.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game in his first season on the court in the Eastern Conference.

He averaged 26.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game with the Warriors in 2018-19 while shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three-point range.

Look for Joe Harris, Caris LeVert, Landry Shamet, Jeff Green and Taurean Prince to see more playing time on the wing with Durant sidelined.