Kevin Durant doesn’t have much to prove entering his third season with the Golden State Warriors, but he should be attempting to add to his trophy case.
The Golden State Warriors’ dynasty has been taken to another level since the arrival of Kevin Durant.
KD has benefitted individually just as much as the team has during their time together as he’s had the most efficient seasons of his career in Golden State.
He had a career-high true shooting percentage during his first season with the Warriors, and he is coming off of the second-best three-point shooting year of his career last season.
The raw scoring numbers have gone down a bit as he’s been surrounded by the most talented roster in the league, but his increased efficiency has him playing the best basketball of his career.
I think Durant should shoot for his second regular season MVP award next year and establish himself as the best player in the league.
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KD is probably not going to get the same volume of offense that he got during his MVP season in 2013-14. He’s now surrounded by three or four other All-Stars, and he won’t be able to launch 20 shots a game in Steve Kerr’s offense that is generally based around ball movement.
However, MVP voters are smarter now than they’ve ever been, and they look at more than just points, rebounds, and assists. Durant has the potential to put up huge numbers on a lower volume of shots, which will be represented by outstanding efficiency stats.
In order to attain his second MVP award, he will need to stay healthy.
KD hasn’t played in 70+ games yet as a Warrior, which has taken him out of the regular season MVP conversation.
There’s no doubt that he has the game to put together another MVP-caliber season when healthy. The only question would be whether some voters would be willing to give him the award after he apparently “ruined basketball” two years ago.
Now that Durant has two Finals MVP awards at home, he might as well try to add another regular season MVP award to his collection this season.
Here are the other Golden State Warriors’ goals for the upcoming season: