After previously having refused to rule Kevin Durant out for the year, Nets general manager Sean Marks now says he expects the star forward to miss the entire upcoming season.

But what Marks was really doing was taking the attention off Durant’s Achilles tendon and the pressure off his back. Or at least trying.

The Nets aren’t planning on Durant coming back this season — Year 1 of his four-year deal — but certainly are not ruling it out, either.

“His rehab’s going very well,” Marks said Tuesday at the team’s pre-training camp press conference. “With Kevin, I think what we’re going to say is the expectations are that he’ll be out for the year. We’re not going to plan on him playing.

“His rehab will obviously be predetermined over the course of the next few months, how he goes with the performance team, but ultimately Kevin will have a large say in when he comes back and how he’s feeling. The expectation now is for him to be out for the year.”

In short, Durant is in control of his timeline. And he will be the one who determines when he gets back out on the court.

Durant ruptured his Achilles on June 10 and had surgery two days later. The feeling in NBA circles has increasingly been that Durant could come back this season. An eight-month recovery from his injury would mean a February return and a nine-month layoff would see him back in March.

The Nets have decided constant scrutiny would be counterproductive, especially with many feeling that Durant rushing back from a calf injury — or being rushed back — for Game 5 of the NBA Finals contributed to the Achilles tear.

“In terms of his rehab, all I can mention is how hard he’s attacked it and been extremely thorough with what he’s done,” Marks said. “You’re looking at one of the great competitors out there, so I’d be remiss if I said he probably doesn’t want to play. It’s obvious he wants to play, but there’s more at stake here. This is, again, a long-term approach.

“There’s a lot of people with a lot of sweat equity in this from the rehab perspective, so it’ll be a group that makes the decision — obviously Kevin included — as to when and how that return is made. His presence, that’ll be predetermined by his rehab, how that’s progressing along.”

When Durant ruptured his Achilles, the Warriors immediately ruled him out for the 2019-20 season. But Marks refused to do so when he spoke to reporters during summer league, and was criticized by some for leaving the situation open-ended.

There hasn’t been any setback, just a reshaping of the narrative.

“Nothing’s really changed — this is just an easier way to say that Kevin controls the rehab,” Marks said. “He’s attacking this like no other. I’ve been excited to see it — we all have — how he’s approached this rehab, which has been great, very refreshing and energizing to the whole group.

“At the end of the day, this is a long-term plan here. This was never about this next season. This is about getting an elite athlete back to elite physical shape on the court whatever that takes.”

Marks said the Nets have not discussed the Warriors’ controversial call to play Durant in Game 5 despite having missed the prior nine postseason games due to a strained right calf.

“I don’t think he wants to talk about it. We certainly don’t. That’s in the past,” Marks said.

“There’s definitely things we can all learn, and we’re strategic with how a lot of guys have returned to play from these injuries. But where Kevin is focused is right here. He’s focused on his rehab. We’re focused on putting the best people around him to help him and make sure that rehab goes to plan.”