Right now: Kevin Durant vs Kawhi Leonard

[durantbird]

Who is better in 24'?

[Dutchball97]

Kawhi is rated higher in composite stats (EPM, LEBRON), boxscore stats (BPM, WS/48 and PER) as well as +-. I don't think there is a massive difference between them this season but Kawhi is pretty clearly the better player at the moment imo.

[cupcakesnake]

Kawhi for me.

They're both playing pretty big roles for their teams defensively, and KD has basically been required to be a primary rim protector for chunks of every game. KD looks pretty good defending the rim, and he holds up well as a switchy man defender. For KD, he's always disapointed me defensively in the little things, and that is still the case this year. He's not disruptive off the ball, nor is he always locked in. If he's not stopping the ball, or contesting at the rim, his defense gets pretty weak. Kawhi has bounced back a bit defensively in terms of his team defense. He's super disruptive (3 deflections per game), generates more turnovers, and has way better focus than KD. As man defenders, I prefer Kawhi but Durant can't really smother people with length on his contests.

Offensively, I think it's a wash in the regular season but I believe more in Kawhi's offensive resiliency due to his handles. In recent years, we've seen Durant become a bit more vulnerable to getting swarmed on defense, and/or being reduced to only taking midrange pull ups. Durant has been unable to get to the rim over the last 2 playoffs. Kawhi with his handles and strength, is still able to get where he wants on the court and is less dependent on his counters. I think he pressures the defense a lot more and causes more panic on his drives. He never turns the ball over while doing it. It feels like every year, defenses are able to keep Durant further and further from the basket and he's mostly stopped trying to attack in that way. He's so good in the midrange that it doesn't matter, until you go up against elite defenses that can make his looks a little less efficient.

[lessthanjake]

Kawhi is the better player at the moment IMO, but I have a bit more confidence that Durant will be healthy in the playoffs (though there’s not a high degree of confidence for either), so I’m not sure which player I’d rather have overall.

[OhayoKD]

Kawhi is as he was at his peak, better when healthy. He is also far less likely to be healthy long enough to contribute to a finals win so it's hard to pick him over durant

[Grimreaper]

Kawhi is as he was at his peak, better when healthy. He is also far less likely to be healthy long enough to contribute to a finals win so it's hard to pick him over durant

Did u lie in ur bio if so why

[rk2023]

They’re essentially interchangeable - same level as James, Tatum, Curry.

Decently below Jokic, and a tier and change below Giannis , healthy RS Embiid , Shai , Luka.

[OhayoKD]

Kawhi is as he was at his peak, better when healthy. He is also far less likely to be healthy long enough to contribute to a finals win so it's hard to pick him over durant

Did u lie in ur bio if so why

No. I am big KD fan and definitely not from canada

[capfan33]

Healthy, Kawhi, so I just went with him to keep it simple but ofc he could easily get injured in which case its Durant by default.

[Statlanta]

Kawhi Leonard. We saw it last playoffs. Coming from the East neutered Durant

[rk2023]

Kawhi Leonard. We saw it last playoffs. Coming from the East neutered Durant

I mean not really, considering the 22 season with BKN went very similar to 23 (both ending with a fair share of playoff struggles). This season his RS stats are down imo due to playing a bigger sample of minutes. It’s a flawed situation yeah, but this is an older post-Achilles KD with the same problems as older post-Achilles KDs this decade.