The Golden State Warriors landed the big prize in 2016’s offseason: Kevin Durant. One of many things that the Warriors have to be excited about in Durant is his defensive versatility, assistant coach Ron Adams tells Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
“His versatility is outstanding,” Ron Adams says of Durant. “He’s a terrific defender, who played with great defensive consistency in our playoff series. We will expect a lot out of him in that regard.”
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“He can, if necessary, guard all five positions – and do it effectively,” Adams says of Durant, who spent most of the conference finals smothering Warriors forward Draymond Green.
“He’s a really good rim protector, in a non-traditional way,” [Warriors head coach Steve] Kerr says. “When he played the ‘four’ against us in the playoffs, he was brilliant. He blocked some shots and he scored a bunch of times. So he’ll play a lot of ‘four’ for us, for sure.”
Of course, the Warriors know that they have a lot to look forward to on the offensive end as well:
“I personally think he will really blossom here as a playmaker,” Adams says of Durant, who finished behind only LeBron James for assists among small forwards. “He can play the point; he played point a lot for Oklahoma City over the years. He likes involving his teammates.
“I don’t know how you rank him in the pantheon of current players,” Adams adds. “But no matter how you do it, he’s certainly in the top three in the world.”
Durant will turn this Warriors team from one of the all-time greats into the best basketball team that has ever been seen. I, for one, can’t wait.
