#Kevin Durant unlikely to play right after NBA All-Star break

It’s possible — but unlikely — Kevin Durant will be ready to return from his injury by the Nets’ first game out of the All-Star break.

“We’ll see,” coach Steve Nash said Wednesday before the Nets faced the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. “I’m not like, ‘He’s going to play right when the break ends.’ There’s obviously a small chance, but we want to be really careful because a setback would be tough when there are 20 or so games left.

“We don’t want to jeopardize there and have a setback where he misses another six to 12 games, so I think we’ll be cautious coming out of the break. There’s a chance he could play, but I think it’s more likely that we don’t get our hopes that he’s going to play the first game out of the break.”

Durant missed a 16th straight game Wednesday since he sprained his left MCL. He got hurt on Jan. 15 against the Pelicans and hasn’t played since.

The Nets will return from the break on Feb. 24 to play the Celtics.

Ben Simmons has been limited to watching practices and shootarounds since he was acquired from the 76ers, so the Nets haven’t been able to assess where his conditioning is.

“No, yeah, not yet. He’s still going through all his assessments and his prep work with the performance team and trying to assess this layoff and make a plan and the forming and beginning steps of that plan,” said Nash, likening Simmons’ situation to a injured player having to be cleared for contact.

“I don’t know that they’re there yet, but it’ll be very similar to that. He gets back on the court, we continue the assessment process. When he reaches barriers, we allow more until he’s crossed the line on all the different parameters and consecutive high intensity workouts where our performance team trusts he’s safe enough not only to perform but recover and to withstand the demands of the game.”

If the Nets can’t assess Simmons’ conditioning, they claim they can sense his ambition just fine.

“Yeah, I see a real hunger from him. His demeanor and his desire to be able to not only get back on the floor, but make a significant impact,” Patty Mills said. “He’s got a lot of fire built up underneath him that has a desire to get back and be the player that he is, and even get better and grow and develop.”

Nash seconded that assessment of Simmons, who hasn’t played all season, citing mental health issues.

“He’s excited at the opportunity, and he sees that he can really be a good fit with this group and the style of play,” Nash said. “Not only is he hungry to play basketball again, but he also sees a real opportunity to play his best basketball in this environment.”

Two sources close to Joe Harris said no decision has been made on whether the wing will need a second ankle surgery, but expressed positive improvement on that front.

Still, Nash wouldn’t say the surgery is off the table.

“I think everything’s on the table at this point,” Nash said. “We hope that he comes back, but we have no idea where this is going to go at this point.”