Kevin Durant Playing This Summer 'Not Very Realistic', Says Rich Kleiman

Even if the NBA season extends into the summer, Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is still not likely to return from his ruptured Achilles before next year. 

Durant's business partner Rich Kleiman said Monday on Golic & Wingo that it's "not very realistic" for him to return in June or July, via ESPN.com.

"It feels like [Durant playing in the 2019-20 season] clearly was not something that was in the cards prior to all this," Kleiman said. "And now, I think just like the rest of the world, it's hard to take anything more than day by day.

"I think that Kevin is going to figure out the space that he needs to be in to continue to rehab during this time. But even that is hard to answer at this point, with the new kind of rules that were put in place last night."

The NBA has suspended its season for at least 30 days amid concern surrounding the coronavirus.

Owners and executives are currently expecting a mid-to-late June return as a best-case scenario for the league to return, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Even with the delay, it won't change Durant's plans to sit out the entire season.

The 31-year-old suffered the Achilles injury in last year's NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors and signed a four-year deal with Brooklyn in the offseason with the expectation he wouldn't play in 2019-20.

Although then-Nets coach Kenny Atkinson had said in January the forward was "progressing," he made it clear there was no intent to return this year.

"No, we’re all on the same page. That’s not going to happen," Atkinson said, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

With Kyrie Irving also out for the year with a shoulder injury, the Nets have put their focus on the 2020-21 season and beyond, even with an adjusted schedule.