Kevin Durant likely won't win MVP, but he should get All-Defense consideration
Forget the crazy efficient offense. K.D. has been a monster guarding all positions and protecting the rim
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2 min read
Kevin Durant probably won't win Most Valuable Player this season. For that, he can thank former teammates Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Fair or not, it's difficult to imagine Durant getting enough votes for his work on a Golden State Warriors superteam when those guys are putting up mind-blowing numbers and carrying their teams.
Durant, though, might be having a better all-around season than both of those guys. In addition to averaging 25.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists with the highest effective field goal percentage of his career, he has been a crucial part of the Warriors' third-ranked defense.
Playing more power forward than ever, Durant has been consistently asked to protect the rim like he did in last season's playoffs for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He's averaging a career-high 1.5 blocks, and opponents are shooting just 48.8 percent against him at the rim -- for reference, DeAndre Jordan's mark is 44.8 percent, Bismack Biyombo's mark is 48.9 percent and Marc Gasol's is 50 percent, per NBA.com. Durant's value in that area was obvious when he blocked five shots against the Toronto Raptors last week, but that was just one of 16 games this season where he has recorded two or more blocks, as pointed out by SB Nation's Kristian Winfield.
"I'm trying to round my game out," Durant said Tuesday, via CSN Bay Area's Monte Poole. "I [take] pride in guarding every position and jumping at every guy coming to the basket. Whether I get dunked on or not or finished over the top of or not, it's just muscle memory now to always get up there and try to protect the rim."
Durant has more or less been doing a Draymond Green impression in the Bay Area, and I'm not just referring to his triple-double last Friday against the Dallas Mavericks. When he shares the floor with Green, both of them can guard the post and the perimeter, change shots at the rim and push the ball after grabbing defensive rebounds. Due to Green's presence, Durant likely won't be in the running for Defensive Player of the Year, but he should get consideration for the All-Defensive team.
The Warriors lost some size and physicality with the departures of centers Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli in the offseason. For most teams, this kind of change would mean a significant drop-off on defense. That has not been the case for Golden State, and much of that is because Durant makes the team even more versatile than it was before. Like Harrison Barnes before him, he could switch onto stronger players in the post. Unlike Barnes, he's 7 feet tall and can alter shots better than many centers. Durant is truly doing it all.
