The self-propelling legend of Kevin Durant got a hell of a nudge yesterday, as the league’s favorite son was officially recognized as an all-encompassing basketball entity rather than merely a superstar small forward. Throughout the preseason, the Thunder have been utilizing Durant’s talents in various positional capacities, as noted by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman:
Against Miami on Friday, Durant played all five positions. He started at his customary small forward spot, ran point guard late in the first quarter and slid to power forward midway through the second quarter.
“Kevin’s game is evolving,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “He, like a lot of our guys, is not a finished product. He’s going to keep getting better. And there’s ways that I’m going to challenge him to get better… He has the ability to do a lot of things for us and do them well.”
It was the minutes Durant played at point guard and power forward that stood out most. At 6-10, Durant is by far the league’s tallest provisional point guard. His size allows him to see over the defense and read and react to whatever is thrown his way. And by initiating the offense, Durant nearly becomes unstoppable because of his shooting ability and improving playmaking skills. He had only one assist against the Heat, but Durant beat LeBron James off the dribble on several possessions, working his way into the lane where he created the option to either finish himself or dump off passes to cutting teammates.
The Thunder are a dream model for the positional revolution, and Durant is obviously a big part of that. However, just plugging KD into different conventional roles is like trying to reach uncharted lands by paved road. It’s certainly noteworthy that Brooks and the Thunder are planning the trip in the first place, but the methodology is flawed to say the least.
Durant is far too talented to be used as a tunnel-visioned scorer, and in Mayberry’s piece, KD goes on to mention how he’s been working on his ball-handling skills and playmaking. Awesome. Really. But those skills are better used as a way to accommodate the rest of OKC’s roster, not run an experiment with KD at point guard for the hell of it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s hardly the way to achieve real progress. The ultimate goal isn’t to have teams run more wonky experiments, but to find ways to let them maximize the talent at their disposal. Allowing Durant positional fluidity is one way to tap into various aspects of his game, but that kind of change can be very superficial. It may demonstrate the Durantula’s ability to defend all types of players, but he’s just as capable of fulfilling the same roles (scoring, playmaking, whatever) regardless of his positional designation. Putting him at point guard doesn’t just transform him into a better passer, an aspect of his game that’s very much a work in progress. Putting him at center also doesn’t transform him into a stereotypical big, and may actually be harmful to his game if he’s pigeon-holed into the responsibilities of a typical 5 as a result.
Is Brooks’ decision to open up the game for his more versatile players a sound one? Of course. But news like this shines as fool’s gold. Evolution is a beautiful thing for Durant, but taking KD out of his most effective spots and roles on the floor for the sake of fluid positionality (or is it desperation?) isn’t likely to be the way toward roster maximization. Not with his handle. Not with his frame. Durant is capable of being a positional wonder, and could very well use his versatile game and do-no-wrong image to turn into one of the revolution’s patron saints. In the meantime though, his ability to create for himself in isolation has been mistaken for a similar proficiency in doing so for his teammates, and his combination of leadership and selflessness mistaken for the credentials of a part-time floor general. In a tough spot, Durant can take care of some of the responsibilities normally attributed to a point guard, but the fact that he’s being pushed into that role (or the center position, or power forward, or whichever) with his current skill set isn’t much more progressive than the status quo.
