The Kevin Durant Thread (2016 - 17 Pt. 1)

[rcontador]

KD can score within the flow of this offense man...You don't see any benefits of having a guy like KD you can give to ball to in the midpost with shooters like Curry and Klay spacing the floor? or how about when their moving and KD can dump it into the guys for easy scores...It's so much untap potential here man it's only been 4 games.

Of course he can score in the flow of offense, I'm just not sure he can score 25+. Is he ready to take a backseat to Steph?

He can score 25 in this offense and more with less shots...their going to feature him plus with the pace and forcing turnovers he's definitely going to get his.

They didn't bring him in to be Barnes 2.0

No, they didn't. But maybe that's what he has to become, for the team to reach its potential. (Well, Barnes 2.0 is going a bit far -- but maybe Klay 2.0.)

I mean, I'm being hyperbolic here for effect -- I think KD is still going to put up good numbers. But before the season began I thought he was either going to run the team, or be 1b to Curry's 1a. Now I'm starting to think that for the Warriors to be the Warriors, Curry needs to completely run the show; that this team can only truly succeed if KD plays second fiddle on offense.

And I think a key question is, is he willing to do that?

[Wall34]

Of course he can score in the flow of offense, I'm just not sure he can score 25+. Is he ready to take a backseat to Steph?

He can score 25 in this offense and more with less shots...their going to feature him plus with the pace and forcing turnovers he's definitely going to get his.

They didn't bring him in to be Barnes 2.0

No, they didn't. But maybe that's what he has to become, for the team to reach its potential. (Well, Barnes 2.0 is going a bit far -- but maybe Klay 2.0.)

Sorry it isn't happening man they not gonna limit KD and have him shoot just 12-13 times so Curry can still be "the man"

Their not going to be the exact team they were the last two years...their going to add new wrinkles to their attack so both KD/Curry can flourish 1A/1B situation.

[StepBackCrack]

KD starts to play within the Warriors' system, and suddenly they look just as good as last year... but he only has 15 through the third quarter. I am confident that this team will eventually settle into their optimal offensive balance -- and it will be godly -- but I'm truly not sure how many shots KD will be taking in it. His preferred methods of scoring are simply too slow (in the half court) and too, well, selfish (on the break) for this team.

EDIT: A minute after I write this, KD tries to iso (but fails to get the ball) and then goes coast-to-coast all by himself. Guess he wants to get his numbers? That's not how the Warriors play, Kevin!

KD can score within the flow of this offense man...You don't see any benefits of having a guy like KD you can give to ball to in the midpost with shooters like Curry and Klay spacing the floor? or how about when their moving and KD can dump it into the guys for easy scores...It's so much untap potential here man it's only been 4 games.

Of course he can score in the flow of offense, I'm just not sure he can score 25+. Is he ready to take a backseat to Steph?

I don't think either need to take a backseat. This is different compared to the LBJ-Wade situation where the talent difference was obvious between LBJ and Wade and their style of play didn't fit great together. Wade taking a backseat made sense. In this case, there is no gap in terms of talent between Durant and Curry. Both should be able to do their thing without being held back. If you want KD to be more like Barnes then that would an awful use of him on the court. Some games, Steph will dominate, some game KD will and some games both dominate at the same time. I don't see any issue in that at all. They don't have egos that can hurt the team imo, so I believe both can be happy playing together. Steph already said that he wouldn't mind at all if KD gets the MVP and only cares about winning. Durant wouldn't join this team if Curry wasn't very comfortable with him being on the team. That's for sure.

[rcontador]

Sorry it isn't happening man they not gonna limit KD and have him shoot just 12-13 times so Curry can still be "the man"

Their not going to be the exact team they were the last two years...their going to add new wrinkles to their attack so both KD/Curry can flourish 1A/1B situation.

Again: I am saying maybe they literally can't do that if they want to play up to their potential.

[Wall34]

Sorry it isn't happening man they not gonna limit KD and have him shoot just 12-13 times so Curry can still be "the man"

Their not going to be the exact team they were the last two years...their going to add new wrinkles to their attack so both KD/Curry can flourish 1A/1B situation.

Again: I am saying that maybe they are literally unable to do that if they want to play up to their potential.

We'll have to see but personally i think we'll see the best version of KD in a GSW uniform on both ends.

[KD35Brah]

Read on Twitter

Here are charts for how much value each player in the league with at least 100 (unfouled) 2-point or 3-point shots in the 2015-16 data contributed from this skill:



OK then. Curry’s outlandish outlier-ness from 3-point range is well-documented. That Durant has been nearly as much of an outlier from inside the arc is not as well-known. Curry at least has a few players pushing him on the efficiency front (albeit over far fewer shots); Durant is pretty much all alone.

------

Imagine you’re the Warriors. You’re loving this idea of having three amazing shooters who can shoot with a defender in their face, can open up shots for others, and can push back the perimeter. Great. But at what cost? Barnes did other stuff. He defended 616 shots!

OK, I can’t keep that up. Barnes gave up about 1.02 points per shot. Not terrible, but not good. Meanwhile, Durant defended 810 shots, giving up — get this — 0.86 points per shot.



Durant’s opponents scored 116 points below expectation last season, second in the NBA behind, yep, his new Warriors teammate Draymond Green (whose opponents shot 168 points below expectation on 1,307 shots). Durant may not have drawn the toughest assignments on the Thunder all year (those typically went to Andre Roberson or Steven Adams), but the sum total of his defensive contribution is hard to ignore.

Combining this defensive value added with the offensive value added above yields this:



Again, neither of these axes should be taken as the definitive representation of value for their respective genres, but even as rough proxies, they paint a pretty vivid picture. We’ve seen other superstar players affect the game on both ends of the floor — LeBron James and Tim Duncan at their peaks would look fearsome on this chart — but those all-around players have, to this point, had fairly all-around games that fit more traditional strategies, like attacking the rim or working out of the post. Durant can do that too, but he’s also something those other Hall-of-Famers weren’t: a dead-eyed sniper.

Normally a collection of sharpshooters would have to be balanced out by some guys capable of carrying the burden defensively (or otherwise diverting resources to defense). But Durant’s length and defensive versatility allow his team to put even more shooting capability on the floor than would normally be possible.

[Wall34]

KD can score in any offense.

[totallystoked]

Best player on the warriors.

[picc]

re: above article

Yeah, KD is as good an iso defender as anyone when he's locked in.

[JordansBulls]

It's good to see him come out in marquee matchups and not just against Lebron who he usually plays to a standstill.

[GSP]

re: above article

Yeah, KD is as good an iso defender as anyone when he's locked in.

Offense+defense hes likely the best iso player post Mj (among 1-3 at least, hard to compare with bigs there)

[picc]

re: above article

Yeah, KD is as good an iso defender as anyone when he's locked in.

Offense+defense hes likely the best iso player post Mj (among 1-3 at least, hard to compare with bigs there)

You mean after Nick Young.

[KD35Brah]

Wishing injury on a player because he left a basketball team is **** pathetic.

[StepBackCrack]

He was beyond awesome tonight. Loved every bit of his performance.

[DreDay]

That was **** nasty.

[StepBackCrack]

That was **** nasty.

He does what he wants now.

[StepBackCrack]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

lmao

[Wall34]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

lmao

I told people he was well aware of what Kanter was talking on twitter.

[StepBackCrack]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

lmao

I told people he was well aware of what Kanter was talking on twitter.

I'm glad he put Kancer in his place. That guy is so childish and annoying on twitter.

[Clyde Frazier]

Of course he can score in the flow of offense, I'm just not sure he can score 25+. Is he ready to take a backseat to Steph?

He can score 25 in this offense and more with less shots...their going to feature him plus with the pace and forcing turnovers he's definitely going to get his.

They didn't bring him in to be Barnes 2.0

No, they didn't. But maybe that's what he has to become, for the team to reach its potential. (Well, Barnes 2.0 is going a bit far -- but maybe Klay 2.0.)

I mean, I'm being hyperbolic here for effect -- I think KD is still going to put up good numbers. But before the season began I thought he was either going to run the team, or be 1b to Curry's 1a. Now I'm starting to think that for the Warriors to be the Warriors, Curry needs to completely run the show; that this team can only truly succeed if KD plays second fiddle on offense.

And I think a key question is, is he willing to do that?

You already admitted yourself you're being hyperbolic... Durant (blatantly) went there to win a championship. It's only logical that he doesn't care about stats on this team. Don't see how this is a question.