Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

[luv_mist]

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/47923/20070905/durant_to_start_at_shooting_guard/

Interesting.

[Nivek]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

Stupid.

[BiggD]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

SG and SF are the same thing really when you think about it..

[aa2ba]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

SG and SF are the same thing really when you think about it..

Where to start...

Well when your playing Defense your expected (as a small forward) to do a share of rebounding. Also on Defense your (most of the time) guarding stronger more physical players than a 2G would. The 2G is suppost to be more athletic, in terms of speed and agility.

Regarding offense; the lines can get a bit skewed but most 2G's are expected to be a permiter oriented player in terms of a jump shot and catching the ball from deeper out to create opportunities. Also 2G's are also refered to as the off-guard for a reason...to help the PG pick up the perimiter play.

Small Forwards on the offensive end have become more diverse over the years (as we've all seen), but (in Seattle's case) you shouldn't have your 2G and 3F looking for shots in the same places (off curls in the 12-17 foot range, high posts, ect)...unless your planning on a run-n-gun style.

Either way Durant on the Defensive end was going to have his work cut out for him so the Sonics will have to be the lesser of 2 evils. On offense, KD playing the 2G, I just hope the Sonics 3F can shoot or they go run-n-gun.

Lastly, from a developmental point of view, I think this might hurt Durant. His perimiter shooting is good but not solid and he is going to have to deal with quicker, albeit smaller (on most nights), 2's. This could result in KD using his jumper too much due to the struggles he will see trying to get around the other 2's. This will eventually force him to play a 3F type of game, which he should be playing to begin with. Which brings me back to who are they going to run at the 3-spot? and what kind of offense are they planning on?

[Bird006]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

^ They mentioned Jeff Green in that small article.. I don't like the idea. KD is a very versitile player, but I think he should be put primarily at the 3 spot. He's too tall as a 2, and like you said, will get burnt nightly by guys like Iverson, Gordon, etc. We'll see how Seattle runs it, though.

[chance]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

Well thats what they are gonna have to do since they wanted to build the franchise around 2 young players that play the same pos. It was either that or put Durant at 3 where he should be and Green at 4 or put Green at 3 where he should be and Durant at 4. Whatever they do they are stuck with someone being out of their natural pos.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

This will probably just be temporary until KD can add some muscle to his frame -- I think they're worried about him snapping in half when someone like Nene or Boozer post him up. I think he would be best-suited at the 4 eventually, but he definitely needs to put on probably 30 lbs. of muscle before that's a viable option. But he'd dominate basically any 4 offensively and has the height to give them a good challenge on defense.

But yeah, kind of a weird stretegy by the Sonics drafting 2 SF/PF kind of guys that they want to build a franchise around. I think we'll probably see some creepy positionless Nellieball lineups from the Sonics this year. Just put Durant out there with 4 other guys and hope for the best... haha..

[Moses Shuttlesworth]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

Could be a possibility....dude needs some muscle tho.

[keRplunK]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

Like a previous poster said, Durant is a 4 but not for a few years so until then he'll be playing out of position because of Jeff Green. It doesn't really matter they aren't going to win for the next few years. They just need to lose and add some solid players through the draft and eventually wait for a championship team to evolve.

[Leahmic223]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

Like a previous poster said, Durant is a 4 but not for a few years so until then he'll be playing out of position because of Jeff Green. It doesn't really matter they aren't going to win for the next few years. They just need to lose and add some solid players through the draft and eventually wait for a championship team to evolve.

I really really hate this logic. At the same time while your losing, good luck signing any good Proven FAs. Then every draft you'll gamble on a player because that is what the draft is, a gamble on who has the most potential.

I mean you could argue that the Hawks have been using this strategy, and it doesn't seem to work for them...because by the time Durant's contract runs out and they try to resign him he's going to say "Why, I can go to a winning team now."

Teams like the Hawks can never retain any of their good players and never attract any of the good FAs, so they stay in their position until a LeBron comes out or another stud. Or they could just draft better and be out of that position in 2-3 years.

[Pointguard]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

Whatever they do they are stuck with someone being out of their natural pos.

KD's natural position is PF. They just have to wait to put him there until he adds some lbs to that frame.

[utexas]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

I saw him play in an HS tourney during his senior ear and he played the 2. Granted it was high school, but until he adds some weight to his frame his game is way more perimeter based and he could post sg's more effectively than he could 4 or 5's at this stage in his career.

[luv_mist]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

I saw him play in an HS tourney during his senior ear and he played the 2. Granted it was high school, but until he adds some weight to his frame his game is way more perimeter based and he could post sg's more effectively than he could 4 or 5's at this stage in his career.

No offense but what SGs you know that are small enough for him to post? Going down the list, the 2s are either too strong for his lanky behind or too quick for him to keep up. I can see him really having problems this year at the 2. That's just my opinion. We'll see how that translates. Magic Johnson did play Center at a point and time in his career so anything is possible right??

[utexas]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

I think he could play it with some level of effectiveness especially offensively.

[Lester206]

Re: Kevin Durant - Shooting Guard??

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3047285

looks like he is gonna play the 2.