Greatest Peaks Ep. 14 | Kevin Durant 2016-18

I don't think he's a bad offensive centerpiece by any means, I just think (A) it's not his optimal role and (B) he has playmaking and vision weaknesses that can be exploited more than other high-tier offensive centerpieces. I'd obviously still be quite happy to have Durant running my offense if that's the best I could do.

It’s probably semantics at this point but Durant was able to keep those lineups alive Ortg wise on both OKC and GSW (after the first year)

He was obviously a major focal but he had Westbrook carry the majority of the ball handling and playmaking load, as Ben points out in the video.

You wouldn’t say he was great in the playoffs? His defense was more consistent in terms of awareness & help

I would say he was the offensive centerpiece on OKC, a lot of the actions they ran on offense don’t really work without his shooting ability, scoring, & versatility. On the warriors he played more of a hybrid role where he can blend between first and second option based on need

I'm curious how well KD would play with Giannis' squad. That team lacks a superstar PG but is stacked with good 3-Pt shooters. It just feels like KD is penalized for having crappy shooters on his OKC squad.

messsiiiiii

Seth Yew

Yeah I think he definitely did

Erving had a peak CORP of 16.4% and 17.7% in 1975-1976 and Durant really had 2 peaks at 18.5% and 18.6% in 2013-2014 and 19.5% and 18.3% in 2017-2018.

Do you believe Curry has yet to reach his peak?

I'd personally have him below a few players not mentioned in the project, but I can't deny that he's one of the best scorers ever and one of the most unique players ever. I'm just glad to see Iceman mention on the project! How do you think Julius Erving compares to him peak-wise?

According to his ScoreVal metric, it is. And he considers Kareem one of the GOAT scorers and with Miller, he just questions his production a bit because he often went up against the same teams in the playoffs (and he feels he might have shot a bit over his head from 3 too).

Yes.

Great analysis. I've def seen KD as a positive defender, esp when matched with higher level defensive talent. It's always made me interested in how the mainstream narrative of KD during these peak seasons was that he was great on defense. I've suspected this not to be true because of his inconsistent help and positioning. Do y'all think the over-valuing of Durant as a high end defender plays more into how perimeter defenders are over-valued? And also the limited ways we evaluate defensive value?

Would you agree with KD being better than Bron at guarding ball handlers but more vulnerable to strength and wings like Kawhi?

I'm curious. When assessing the all-time great scorers, why isn't the ridiculous efficiency of Kareem & Reggie as valuable than a couple more points per 36?

Basically. Effectiveness is not equal across the players (or the positions) but it's a similar versatility.

Yes, they were all similar and all candidates. (Except any current players who may still be peaking like Giannis.) Originally I wanted to do them all. Then, in the interest of time, picked one based on “most interesting topic for this series” while moving the others to a future series.

Dirk or Nash.

Really enjoyed this Ben. I think Durant not being optimal as an offensive centerpiece is not something many people consider and I'm glad you discussed it at length in this video. KD is really such a unique offensive weapon and I'm not sure he's fully appreciated as the scalable piece he is.

I belive Durant had way less defensive and playmaking questions than Dirk, scalability, overall scoring and defensive questions than Nash and Paul. Antetokounmpo might just be living his peak, so it's wiser to let him finish it before adding him in (same for AD and other current stars). Durant seems to have a more complete peak sample than Wade, but at this point I think it was a coin toss between a number of this guys.

What an interesting player and great work as always!! Would you consider KD one of those players who could guard all five positions like Bron and KG?

Ben, what made you go with Durant over Nowitzki, Nash, Wade, Paul and Antetokounmpo? I know that this project is not directly related to your CORP valuations but they all look in the same ballpark, and curious about the reason. Cheers.