Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant first sprained his knee back in mid January. There was some friendly fire when Bruce Brown was pushed while playing defense in a game vs. the New Orleans Pelicans. Brown went flying into Durant's leg. The collision appeared to hyperextend KD's knee a bit.

Still, fans breathed a major sigh of relief when the MRI revealed no significant damage and the two time NBA Finals MVP was given a 4-6 week timeline for his return. It's now been just over a month. But will it take that full six weeks or more for the 12 time All-Star to return? Or might he beat the mark?

Nets fans miss seeing him do this stuff in the absolute worst way:

The team has seen some significant changes since the injury. James Harden may have already had a wandering eye when KD got hurt. But Durant's absence only poured fuel on a fire that culminated with Harden and Paul Millsap being traded, and Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond coming to Brooklyn from the Sixers.

Before the battle of the boroughs against the New York Knicks, head coach Steve Nash provided an update on the team's best player's timetable.

“Yeah, we'll see,” Nash said, looking to make it back-to-back Nets wins for the first time since Jan. 21st. “I wouldn't expect him, I'm not like ‘he's gonna play right when the break ends,' there's obviously a small chance, but we want to be really careful and safe with Kevin.”

All-Star Break technically begins following the team's Feb. 17 match vs. the Wizards. Their first game after the lay off isn't until Feb. 24 vs. the suddenly scorching Boston Celtics. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and co. are riding a 9 game win streak.

Nash being conservative here doesn't sound unlike the approach the team took a season ago. Recall, in his first season back from major Achilles surgery in 2020-2021, Durant only played about half of the team's regular season games. The Nets were notoriously conservative with Durant's availability and minutes. That approach was diametrically opposed with this 2021-2022 campaign where Durant was playing almost each night and currently ranks 6th overall in minutes per game.

“A setback would be tough,” continued Nash, “when we only have whatever, 20-or-so games left, we don't want to jeopardize it or have a setback where he misses another 6-10 or 12 games of the 20. So I think we'll be cautious coming out of the break. There's a chance he can play but I think it's more likely that we don't get our hopes up that he's gonna play the first game back from the break.”

On Wednesday, we also got some key updates from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, and NYC Mayor Eric Adams on the vaccine mandate front. Kyrie Irving's season and future may hang on a change in that department. This game vs. the Knicks is a road match but Irving still cannot play since it's in NYC. A shorthanded Nets group will try to handle business in a hostile environment as local fans always get up for a Knicks-Nets subway match.

With Durant's return eventual if not imminent, and possible changes to Irving's part-time status suddenly looming, it's hard not to ask “what if” on the James Harden front. But we'll have plenty of time to unpack that can of worms. And the Nets will look forward to a day Irving can play full time, flanked by a combination of KD, Joe Harris, and Ben Simmons. The new look Nets aren't available yet. But we can begin to picture how it might all look.