Kevin Durant expected to miss at least one week with sprained ankle, out for coming road trip

While the news itself could have been worse, it feels like this drops the curtain on the Phoenix Suns' season.

Kevin Durant is going to miss at least a week due to the sprained ankle he suffered in a blowout loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. That implies this is a Grade 1 sprain, which usually sidelines a player for 1-2 weeks. Durant is not with the team and will be out for a critical three-game road trip for Phoenix against Milwaukee, Boston and New York.

There is a chance Durant could return for the final games of the regular season and the play-in, but will they need him to?

This injury feels like the final nail in the coffin of the Suns' season. It may well mean we've seen Durant's last game in a Suns uniform.

After a four-game win streak that sparked hope this Suns roster was invested and turning things around, Phoenix has dropped three in a row, two of those games by 30+ (the other, to Denver, by "just" 15). This looks like a team that has let go of the rope. Phoenix is 1.5 games back of Sacramento for the No. 10 seed and final play-in spot in the West with seven games to go, and the next three of those games are a brutal road trip the Suns will take without Durant. The only thing keeping the Suns close is that the Kings are falling apart as well, but neither looks like a team ready to make a push and advance out of the play-in and into the eight-team playoffs.

It's time for the Suns' front office and coaching staff to consider shutting things down rather than risk further injuries to stars, as much as that is against the ethos of owner Mat Ishbia. Bradley Beal has missed the last seven games and has yet to be cleared to play 5-on-5, there is no timetable for his return. Durant is now out. Devin Booker likely plays in every game on this road trip, and he's not going to want to be sat for games, but it's time for the Suns to discuss sitting him and giving a larger role to Collin Gillespie and rookie Ryan Dunn (as well as rookie Oso Ighodaro) and see what they can do with it.

What are the Suns playing for at this point? This season has been a massive disappointment, it's better to get to the offseason and retool the roster (likely with a Durant trade).