KD’s defense can be spectacular

The Warriors’ Kevin Durant has a reputation for being one of the best scorers in league history. He can also be one of the best defenders in the NBA.

Everyone already knows about Kevin Durant‘s other worldly scoring and his arsenal of offensive moves. He is a scorer that no one in the league has seen. With his size, quickness, athleticism, and touch, he can do almost whatever he wants on the floor. He can shoot the mid-range shot with ease, post-up at the elbow and take his one-foot fadeaway shot he takes, his handle is the best for a guy that size.

We’re talking about a seven-footer, who can handle the ball and rise up from anywhere on the basketball court just like a couple of his new teammates that can bomb in 30-footers. His size and length make him so tough to guard because if you put a small guy on him, he’ll just shoot over him and if you put a bigger guy on him, he’ll drive right past him and dunk. Durant is pretty much unstoppable at the offensive end of the court.

Now, it’s time to take a look at the other side of the floor: the defensive side and how he’ll help the Warriors in that department. As you can see from the video below from Youtube made by Evin Gualberto, Durant is an underrated defender.

Yes, it’s his length that gives opposing offenses problems, but it’s also his anticipation of what his offensive player is going to do, whether it’s spin, pull up for a jumper or take a hook shot that makes his defense so unique and special. What also makes his defense so undervalued and overlooked is the way he moves his feet when he defends a smaller player. For example, in the video above, there was a sequence when he was guarding James Harden, one of the game’s best offensive players and locking him down. Durant moved his feet and swiped at the ball a couple of times and forced Harden to take a contested and difficult stepback jumper.

What makes KD’s defense so under-appreciated is that he’s a seven-footer sometimes guarding point guards all the way up to centers. Another part of the video was when Durant guarded Al Horford on the block and was holding his own either blocking, swiping down, or forcing him into a jump ball. It was impressive to see him guard centers.

In this past year’s Western Conference Finals, he would guard everyone from Steph Curry to Draymond Green and do really good job of defending them. His length and size made it tough for Curry and Klay Thompson to get their shots off when guarded by Durant. Also, when Green would post up and try to lean in to get contact, Durant would swat the ball away. It was the switching of Durant and the way he moved his feet, anticipated a pass or shot that made this such an eye-opening anomaly for the Warriors this past May.

Now, his defense that was so underrated last season will be vital to the Warriors’ success this coming season and I think he will be even better defensively than he was last year. Reuniting with his former assistant coach, Ron Adams, will help a lot and make his defense even better. I mean Adams turned former-Warrior, Leandro Barbosa into a respectable defender after Barbosa couldn’t defend that well throughout his career. So now why wouldn’t Adams turn Durant into an elite defender?

Defensively, integrating Durant into the “Super Death Lineup” or “Death Star Lineup” as I like to call that lineup of Curry, Thompson, Green and Andre Iguodala should not be hard at all. He would just fill in Harrison Barnes’ role as the power forward in this lineup.

If Ron Adams can improve KD’s defense just a little bit more, Durant could potentially guard all five positions when needed. Now, that would be a luxury for the Warriors having two players who could guard all five positions and guard them effectively. The other player being the do-it-all forward Green.

Also, the ability that Durant has to switch onto smaller guys like point guards or guard heavier and stronger players like centers is what makes his defense so vital to the Warriors’ “Death Star Lineup.” Communicated switches and versatility to guard multiple positions is a blueprint for the Warriors’ defensive schemes.

We wait and see if Durant’s defense is as good as advertised and see what tweaks Coach Adams can make to turn him into an elite defender.