What will Durant be ?

[Swatguy]

I'm thinking this guy has the game of George Gervin and Kevin Garnett. Offensively he may be unstoppable (with age), truly the player of the ages. He blocks shots and rebounds(better rebounder than Oden).

If I have an opportunity to draft him, I do. Solomon, Shelden and Zaza can man the post. Trade Marvin for Wilcox.

But what impact and player do you guys believe he to be?

[scottt]

No No No No No No. I love Durant. But, if we get the first pick and do not draft Oden, then the GM should be immediately fired. If we were healthy, then scoring would not be a problem. However, we need to improve our defense, and we could dramatically improve with one little ping pong ball. If we had Oden, JS and Solomon in at the same time, then anyone going into the lane would do so at their own peril.

[ncthompson11]

no doubt take oden with the first but i wish we had never taken marvin. this guy has a lot of potential but is already better than marvin and can be an all star during his first year.yes marvin can be in a couple of years but we may have missed out on this one because of bad drafts.

[jezmund]

I think Durant is a longer, more-polished-at-the-same-age Tracy McGrady with the ability to play defense and possibly after maybe putting on a little weight turning into a dominant offensive player. Very Dirk-like on offense. A lot of perimeter pull-up jumpers setting up the penetration and dunkage ability. I'm not too optimistic about the draft lottery (scared to be honest) but if we somehow can find a way to end up #2 you take Durant and find the highest bidder for Marvin. Bottom line....

Kevin Durant and Joe Johnson would be a devastating perimeter scoring duo.

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While I'm dreaming lets trade Marvin / Chill / Shelden and #11 for Dwight Howard and move Zaza / Salim for a pick to get Critty.

And then the dream ends.....

Oh well... I'll have my fingers crossed.

[vdunkndunk]

I'd take Oden 1, Durant 2. But if we get either guy, we're in very good shape. I wouldn't mind trying Smoove and Durant at the 4/5 spots together and see what happened....Marvin, Durant, and Smoove would be a crazy frontline.

[Guest Walter]

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I wouldn't mind trying Smoove and Durant at the 4/5 spots together and see what happened....Marvin, Durant, and Smoove would be a crazy frontline.

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You get a BIG MAN instead of forcing these relative skinny minnies to protect themselves.

Trade MW and fast...

Diop in FAcy? Isn't he a FA?

W

[Lascar78]

I would definitely take Durant #2 in this draft, but I don't think he will be as great as some people think he'll be. I think he will struggle at first as he gets bodied up by stronger NBA guys. Don't get me wrong, his skills are obvious, and particularly his shooting and ball handling for a guy his size. But I don't think he will be very successful at driving with any kind of contact for a while. Even in college, he wasn't so big on taking his man off the dribble and finishing in the lane. I think he will have some similar issues that Marvin's had where he's got a great stroke and would rather set himself up for a jumper rather than take it inside and finish strong. I also don't think his defense will be that good at the NBA level other than help blocks.

Of course if he bulks up and works hard he can be virtually unstoppable, and I'm agreeing that he is EASILY the 2nd best player in this draft. But I don't think he's a surefire superstar like many do.

[jezmund]

An obvious difference between Marvin and what I saw of Durant is that Durant can pull up for a jumper off the dribble on the dime.

[Guest Walter]

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I would definitely take Durant #2 in this draft, but I don't think he will be as great as some people think he'll be. I think he will struggle at first as he gets bodied up by stronger NBA guys. Don't get me wrong, his skills are obvious, and particularly his shooting and ball handling for a guy his size. But I don't think he will be very successful at driving with any kind of contact for a while. Even in college, he wasn't so big on taking his man off the dribble and finishing in the lane. I think he will have some similar issues that Marvin's had where he's got a great stroke and would rather set himself up for a jumper rather than take it inside and finish strong. I also don't think his defense will be that good at the NBA level other than help blocks.

Of course if he bulks up and works hard he can be virtually unstoppable, and I'm agreeing that he is EASILY the 2nd best player in this draft. But I don't think he's a surefire superstar like many do.

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Easily. He's just flat out incredible. It's one thing to say a "guy X's" game won't translate to the NBA very well, it's another to say the same for the ONLY college player of the year as a freshman. I also think that Durant's game is particularly well suited for the pros. He will come in 5-10 lbs heavier on top of it all. The guy is amazing.

W

[Lascar78]

Agreed. But that's his go to move, even against slower, weaker, smaller college guys. Quick dribble move and pull up jumper. And he will still be able to do that in the pros although it will be more contested. But he still will have to learn how to drive and handle the contact.

[Guest Walter]

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Agreed. But that's his go to move, even against slower, weaker, smaller college guys. Quick dribble move and pull up jumper. And he will still be able to do that in the pros although it will be more contested. But he still will have to learn how to drive and handle the contact.

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He simply shoots over them. Just ask Nowitski. Can't contest him too much and IMO Durant has more of an all around offensive game relatively speaking.

W

[BusBoyIsBack]

He really is a hybrid of McGrady and Dirk.

He's got the length of Nowitzki but not quite as tall. He's got the ability to put the ball on the floor like McGrady but not quite as well.

I think he will be a great player but I still disagree that he will put up better numbers than Smoove next year like others have previously suggested.

[exodus]

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I wouldn't mind trying Smoove and Durant at the 4/5 spots together and see what happened....Marvin, Durant, and Smoove would be a crazy frontline.

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You get a BIG MAN instead of forcing these relative skinny minnies to protect themselves.

Trade MW and fast...

Diop in FAcy? Isn't he a FA?

W

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Dallas has a team option on him for next season which i am sure they will use.

[Diesel]

I think before he does anything, he will have to pick up some muscle. What a lot of you need to understand is that Durant is still very young and really underdeveloped. A good part of what Durant did offensively was based on having a great PG. I think you can look for Durant to be a stroke above Chris Bosh for a couple of years except he should have much better defense. I don't think he's the next coming of KG nor is he the next Lebron or anything like that. You can probably expect 18/9 for 2 years.. After that, he will prolly be a 23 to 24 ppg player if he gains the muscle!

[bfwolf]

A stroke above Chris Bosh? Chris Bosh is an outstanding NBA player who averaged 23 and 11 this year. For anybody to come in the League and play above his level means they are an immediate All Star. Not saying that I don't think Durant will play at this level. He's amazing and will average 20+ his rookie year, but I don't understand why you're saying in one breath that he'll need to add muscle before he does anything in the NBA and then in the next breath say he'll be an All Star his rookie year.

I also have seen Texas play and do not believe that many of his points are due to playing with Augustine. Durant was typically given the ball with a defender in front of him, and then did something spectacular to score. I saw very little of Augustine driving to the basket, having the defense collapse, and then dishing to a Durant for a wide open J. One of Durant's great strengths is that he is tall and has a high release point so he can just shoot over people, as he showed time and again this season.

[KB21]

I don't really see many similarities between Durant's game and Garnett's game. Durant is much more perimeter oriented, and he doesn't have the raging, in your face defensive intensity that Kevin Garnett showed at an early age.

I think he's more similar to a Rashard Lewis type, but he's got the ability to be Rashard Lewis at a true superstar level. I think Durant has to improve his positional defense, but most young players have to do that.

[Diesel]

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For anybody to come in the League and play above his level means they are an immediate All Star

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I'm talking about Bosh's rookie year of 11/7/4 and his second year of 17/9/2. I think Durant will be about the same... Maybe a point or 2 better in his rookie year... But that all depends on IF he gets Stronger and IF he goes to the right team.

[bfwolf]

So do you want to make a bet on whether Durant's points + rebounds exceeds 23? I'll take the over, you take the under.

$20 to Hawksquawk from the loser.

You're saying he's going to be a shade better than 18, so this should be a no-brainer for you.

[hawkman]

To say that Durant won't contribute immediately next season is to ignore the most important part of his skill set, his mentality. His mental approach to the game is that he is a superstar and his opponents can only hope to stop him. That's what seperates a Durant from a Marvin. He will go to an NBA team with the expectations that he will be THE man on that team. He won't go just to fit in. If he comes here, he could easily compete with JJ as the best player on this team. It might seem like I'm giving this guy too much credit, but there's actual substance to this guy's game. He's not the product of hype or potential. When the game's on the line, he's 100% in the moment.You know what you're getting with this guy. 18 and 8 will be this guy's basement. All that said, I'd easily pick Oden with the #1 pick. If we get #2, Durant is THE only option.

[Johnnybravo4]

I think that he will do a Lebron and be a star from the very beginning. I think that he is a transcendant talent, and people like them usually come into the league smoking. Carmelo and Wade came into the league smoking and he was by far a better all around player than either one of them.