How Kevin Durant Could Help The Warriors In A Way Many Might Not Expect

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Most of the talk surrounding Kevin Durant’s addition to the Golden State Warriors this summer surrounds how a team featuring the last three NBA MVP award winners, a guard with the most points ever scored in an NBA quarter, and a top-15 player with a painful kicking habit might all share the ball on the offensive end. But it’s Golden State’s defense — ranked No. 5 in the league last season — that could see the biggest improvement. That might sound crazy to some, especially with Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli and — most importantly — starting center Andrew Bogut gone in free agency this past summer. But with the way Durant played defense in the playoffs this past May, it’s not as crazy as it may seem.

First, though, lets dispense with the silly for a second here. Durant is about as villainous as LeBron was during the 2010-11 season, which is to say if anyone’s confusing him with Qualen in Cliffhanger — perhaps the purest distillation of villainy in contemporary cinema — needs to check themselves. Durant’s Nike spot about being a bad man only worked on an ironic level. He’s a really good dude, even behind the scenes where a lot of players are not.

It’s why Steve Kerr described the first day of camp as “great.” It’s also — at least partially — why Durant’s assimilation into the pass-happy Warriors this season will be less stressful and think-piece-producing than LeBron’s sojourn south in 2010. In that instance LeBron had to figure out how he was going to play with a top-five offensive talent like Dwyane Wade, but neither Durant nor Steph really need the ball like Wade and LeBron did at the time to be effective on the offense end. But how Golden State shares the ball, or not, is a piece for another time. For you offense enthusiasts, we’ve embedded this video of Klay Thompson and Durant getting up shots earlier this week when training camp opened (yeah, they don’t miss often).

Durant’s offensive prowess is overt enough even the most casual fan can acknowledge his dominance. He’s basically seven feet tall and can pull up off the dribble to swish above-the-break threes with ease. He can also handle the rock like a guard and can run the pick-and-roll at an elite level — he was in the 88th percentile for pick-and-roll ball handlers on Synergy, and only Kawhi Leonard got more points per ball screen among wings who play starter’s minutes. But we’re already getting lost on Durant’s alien scoring ability when it’s really his defense that could make the Warriors somehow more dangerous than they were when they won 73 freakin’ games and came within one Finals collapse of a second consecutive title.

KD is an incredible defender, but you don’t hear about it because he carried a heavy offensive load in Oklahoma City. Except, he’s not James Harden — that load hasn’t crimped his effort on the other end. He was an elite defender in the regular season even while continuing to be one of the deadliest scorers in NBA history. The Thunder gave up more than two points per 100 possessions when Durant sat, and that’s even with Billy Donovan frequently staggering Durant’s minutes with Russell Westbrook’s. Opponents shot a lower percentage than average against Durant all over the court last season, too.

But while Durant was rated as an “excellent” defender on Synergy, in the 88th percentile, and never below “good” in any specific defensive play type, his brilliance on that end never really made headlines until his Thunder went up 3-1 on the team he’s playing for now. That’s because his defense in the Western Conference Finals last season was so superb, there was no way to ignore it even with all the buckets he was still getting.

In the Conference Finals he met Draymond Green at the rim and handled him alone in the post:

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Dray wasn’t the only one, either. Playoff opponents shot worse against Durant at the rim than anyone else in the NBA (minimum 20 mins per game and eight games played). That’s astounding to think of when you also consider how effective he was at causing turnovers.

KD was able to defend a hobbled Steph Curry on high picks and get his go-go gadget 7-foot-4 wingspan into passing lanes for steals.

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So, when engaged, it’s not crazy to submit that Durant is an All-Defense caliber defender. And while we had LeBron James taking home Defensive Player of the Year in our preposterous predictions post over the summer, Durant could take it, too! (We had KD averaging a triple-double on the year in that ridiculousness, so even we were swept up in what he might do on the offensive end with this team.)

With Steph and Klay adding the offensive firepower Durant’s never enjoyed playing with in his career, Durantula can focus on that end of the floor even more than he has in the past. There’s no accounting for what that comfort and confidence might inspire in the 2014 MVP. And, that’s all before we get into their new Death Star™ lineup.

Last year’s “Death Lineup” struggled mightily against the Thunder primarily because of all the agile athletes Oklahoma City could combat with (Andre Roberson, KD, Steven Adams) when the Warriors moved Green over to center and put Barnes at power forward alongside a perimeter triumvirate of Curry, Thompson and Andre Iguodala.

But now it’s even crazier. Just the notion of replacing Barnes with Durant in that lineup is sure to make any opposing coach quake. Sure, Durant hasn’t been so keen on playing a ton of minutes at power forward, but he won’t have to be in Golden State. Kerr can bust this beauty out as infrequently as he needs, but holy hell, it’s almost as impossible to imagine as the unknown depths of the world’s oceans.

Draymond is again going to be in contention for Defensive Player of the Year (he’s been runner-up the last two years), and Thompson is an accomplished wing defender. Add Durant to the mix and Iguodala’s genius-level basketball IQ, and even if Steph is as slow as he was in the NBA Finals, it won’t matter. (And let’s not forget that Steph ain’t no slouch on that end these days, even if he’s the worst defender among the starters and the new Death Star lineup)

The offensive fireworks on display in the Bay this season will get the majority of coverage to begin the season. And they should! Fans love scoring — it’s why hand-checking was abolished. But by the end of the year we might not just be talking about Golden State’s amazing scoring prowess, we could be talking about an all-time defensive juggernaut on par with last year’s Spurs squad.

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