Five-Tool Player

Kevin Durant can shoot, drive, dribble, pass, and rebound. That's pretty much everything you could want out of a Small Forward. He doesn't rack up a lot of assists, but his passes get to where they need to, and he racks up a lot of (as other sportswriters like to say) hockey assists. He's unselfish and his relationship with his teammates both on and off the court is outstanding. He's the total offensive package.

His defense isn't terrible. He's 6'10 with a standing reach of 9'2, and his vertical is measured a little over two feet. He'll never leap out of the gym, but his game doesn't call for that. That said, he averages less than a block a game, which seems odd. Although he doesn't have Andrei Kirilenko's absurd hops, they have similar wingspans, and besides, Kirilenko uses that length to get blocks on the weak side, as seen here:



Now, I'm aware that Kirilenko is a defensive specialist, stupidly athletic, and has a much lower profile than KD; however, Durant has enough agility to block at least one a game. 0.9 blocks per game is underwhelming. Bringing shot blocking into his repertoire would add another dimension to KD's game: he's too skinny to be a great post defender, but he could use the skill in transition defense. Plus, shot blocking is an intimidation tool. Most opposing forwards don't think twice about driving towards KD, but if they think he'll pin their shit, they might opt to pass it off or take an outside shot.

Oddly enough, he does average about a steal and a half per game, which is impressive for someone of his size, but this comes more from being able to read passing lanes fairly well and using his massive wingspan. He's not going to be up for defensive player of the year anytime soon, but he's a passable defender, and he's made leaps and bounds since college. However, he's definitely capable of lockdown defense (such as the time that he shut down Danilo Gallinari) and it'll be interesting to see him grow into a three-dimensional player.

I also should cut him some slack. He's improved his defense every year in the league, and he's only 21. He'd be up for Most Improved Player if he weren't, you know, great every year up until now (defense notwithstanding.)

As far as offense goes, Kevin Durant will do everything you want. As far as defense goes, he's more than capable of doing everything you want, but he's still learning how to do it. Perhaps more importantly, he's willing to learn if it will help his team.

Here's the real point/question of this post: if Kevin Durant is capable of producing in every major category (Points, Rebounds, Assists, Blocks, Steals), should he be? And if he doesn't, does that make him any less of a complete player?

We all have certain expectations of positions. Point guards dish out assists and grab steals; shooting guards rack up points, rebounds, assists, and occasionally steals; the small forward fills in wherever he's needed and is generally a nebulous position (Josh Smith is a premiere defender and devours shot attempts like Eddy Curry at a buffet; Lebron James is the primary distributor and facilitator for the Cavs offense; for whatever reason, they're both listed at the same position); power forwards rebound and score; centers block shots and defend the paint and grab a few rebounds while they're at it.

So, here we have a gifted player who, should he choose to focus on it, can fulfill any type of role that his team needs him to. He is infinitely adaptable, and he is in the least defined position in the NBA, filled by players ranging from Scottie Pippen to Elgin Baylor. Assuming that his primary role upon the basketball court is fulfilled (score more points than he gives up without impeding his teammates), what else should we expect from him as a player?

Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant. He can score from anywhere on the floor, he's a good teammate, and he's going to produce whatever his team needs him to. In his infinite flexibility, many different people are going to want different things from him. Better defense, better 3-point percentage, getting to the line more (I don't know how that's really possible as he gets to the line at will as is, but I digress), shot blocking, an afro, better adjusted plus/minus; even if none of these things come to pass, nobody in their right mind would call him a bust, or even say that he never lived up to his potential. As it stands, Durant is better at the best parts of his game than 90% of the league. If he sticks to shooting the lights out, driving to the lane, rebounding at a fairly good (7-ish per game) clip, and continuing to play unselfishly, he's still got a good shot of making it into the Hall of Fame. Right now, he's a supercharged Alex English, and that's not exactly a bad thing to be.

The dream of infinite possibilities is just that: a dream. Durant is an astoundingly versatile player, but he uses that creativity to find different ways to score. That versatility will allow himself to reinvent himself as a player should he see a need to. The Kevin Durant of ten years from now might be entirely different than the Kevin Durant you know now. The Kevin Durant of three years from now might be entirely different. Or he might be the same.

Do I think KD is capable of averaging a good 1.5 swats per game? Yeah, absolutely. Do I think he will? No. Do I wish he will? I'm not sure. I like the KD we have now, but to stagnate is to die in the NBA. He'll adapt and evolve, and his body was built for basketball. He'll pick up new tricks. The seeming certainty of this statement may be why he's so captivating to watch.