As Warriors Round into Form, Kevin Durant Can (Also) Do What He Wants
The dissolution of the basketball ties that bound Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant for eight seasons in Oklahoma City was messy, emotional and fraught with narratives centered on the presumption that its aftermath resembled a zero-sum game: Westbrook can finally do what he wants, while Durant must integrate his skill set into the Golden State Warriors' tried-and-true system, one largely predicated on ball movement and adaptability.
That thinking has proved half-correct.
Yes, Westbrook has been a gale force sweeping through basketball's ecosystem. He's averaging a triple-double while tops in scoring. He's leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a perfect record. He's posting a usage rate that would make Wilt Chamberlain jealous.
It's been everything Westbrook and the Thunder could hope for. The longer that trend continues, the more the NBA stands to gain from that pulsating quasar wearing No. 0.
But Durant hasn't sacrificed anything himself, at least not in the early going. He's top-five in player efficiency rating. He's scoring nearly 29 a night. In Steve Kerr's capable hands, Durant has become the ultimate stopgap, the last best resort for an offense that stalls.
No one in the NBA has been better on shots close to the basket. His iso production is as good as ever, and his pick-and-rolls with Stephen Curry are fast becoming a sight to behold.
Now, just in time for the first meeting this season between Golden State and Oklahoma City, the Warriors' style of play finally looks more relaxed. They handled the Portland Trail Blazers with ease Tuesday night, 127-104, a not-entirely-shocking result considering Curry exploded for 23 points in the third quarter.
While the on-court smoothing-out continues, the off-court Durant-Westbrook distraction (which only seems to have impacted life on the Oakland side of the discussion) appears ready to complete its initial phase.
They had their dueling magazine cover stories—Durant for Rolling Stone, Westbrook for Sports Illustrated—and getting this first Warriors-Thunder game out of the way so early will help with that progression.
Now Durant is doing his part to try to keep the peace.
Over the last couple of days, no less than four different news outlets have spoken one-on-one with Durant, with the prevailing takeaways being that A) there is no beef with Westbrook; B) going to the Warriors was a basketball decision and nothing else; C) OK, maybe he didn't handle it the best way with Westbrook or the OKC fans; but D) all of that will be rectified at another time and place down the road.
"You hear it," Durant said after the team's Thursday morning shootaround, regarding all the hype and attention around this game. "I've been trying to take it a day at a time. Today, we came here prepared for OKC, and it's time to go out there and execute."
It behooves Durant to snuff out this feud sooner rather than later because he and the Warriors have so much more to lose. That's why the Portland win was so vital to this cause, to changing the discussion that encircles this team on an hourly basis.
"We're just starting to put it together," Draymond Green said a few hours before playing OKC. "You start to get used to playing with each other. ... It was just one game [against San Antonio], and we're not going to overreact."
The Thunder and Warriors are thriving, and Thursday's outcome won't drastically alter either team's trajectory. Westbrook and Durant appear headed for their best statistical years yet, and both stand to benefit untold amounts as the weeks turn into months.
Westbrook has a whole regional market to himself and can play up his role as the faithful one who didn't leave when he had the chance to do so. Though he's been the de facto leader of the Thunder for some years now, he can fully inhabit that character, possess the ball at will and embark on his six-month tour of vengeance across the NBA landscape, laying waste to any defender who dares to step in his way.
OKC may not win as many games as last season, but boy howdy is it fun to watch.
(Side note: Westbrook's staying in OKC is also good for the NBA since that market now maintains more than a modicum of relevance. If and when Westbrook does leave, it would be devastating for the area on a number of levels, so at least Commissioner Adam Silver doesn't have that to deal with right now.)
As for Durant, he had a lot at stake in making the move he did. He had to adapt to a new home, thus relinquishing a near-decade of goodwill built up in OKC. He knew he'd receive the kind of criticism that few elite athletes willingly bring on themselves over the course of a career. In joining a team with three legit All-Stars, he would have to share the ball (and the spotlight) as never before.
But his stats have persevered. He's adjusting to Bay Area life, making it a point to do local appearances and ingratiate himself to a new fanbase.
The money's fantastic. His brand will survive. It's still great to be Kevin Durant, even if the sight of him in Golden State blue and gold remains unnatural at first glance. As he said this week, the relationships that feel strained now will be smoothed over later.
For now, it's all about basketball, which means a date in Oakland with his old friend and teammate. The rules say someone has to lose this one, but Durant and Westbrook, in going their own ways, have already won so much.
WARRIORS INSIDER'S NOTEBOOK
Klay's Drain
While Curry's shot is rounding into midseason form, Klay Thompson's long-range daggers are still largely absent through four games.
His 3-of-28 performance on triples is the worst three-point shooting of his career through a season's first four games since he became a starter in 2012.
| 2013-14 | 13-of-25 | 52.0% |
| 2014-15 | 13-of-26 | 50.0% |
| 2012-13 | 10-of-24 | 41.7% |
| 2015-16 | 5-of-15 | 33.3% |
| 2016-17 | 3-of-28 | 10.7% |
A Good Omen
Damian Jones, the Warriors' 2016 first-round draft pick, continues to make progress from his pectoral surgery, increasing his workload during practices, although there's still no firm timetable for his return.
As a 7'0" rookie center out of Vanderbilt—much like the dearly departed Festus Ezeli was back in 2012—Jones could possibly provide the kind of rim protection that's been sorely lacking over the first week of the season, although look for Golden State to take its time with the promising big man.
Patrick McCaw, Jones' fellow draftee, remains sidelined with a sprained left ankle suffered in New Orleans last Friday. He was scheduled to have an MRI in the Bay Area on Wednesday.
Clark Can't (Miss)
The advanced metrics were not kind to Ian Clark through three games, as the Warriors posted a net rating deep in the minus–30s when he was on the court.
But against Portland, Clark broke out with a career-high 22 points and made all eight of his field goals. It's the first time a Warrior who came off the bench made that many without a miss since Hall of Famer Chris Mullin in 1996.
In Curry's Favor
Happy trails to Ray Allen, who was the greatest three-point shooter of his generation. Over his career, Allen made more threes than any player in history and shot better than 40 percent from deep eight times.
As for Curry, this is his eighth season in the NBA…and so far his eighth shooting 40 percent or better from deep. Heading into Thursday night, he had swished 1,610 threes, which is good for 18th-best all time. If he maintains this pace through the season and hits 300 more threes, he will breach the top 10 with ease, despite active players such as J.R. Smith, Dirk Nowitzki, Joe Johnson and Kyle Korver yet to be leapfrogged.
Even if Curry regresses to, say, 250 threes a season after this, he'll break Allen's career mark of 2,973 in about four more years.
Erik Malinowski is the Golden State Warriors lead writer for B/R. You can follow him on Twitter: @erikmal. All statistics via Stats.NBA.com or Basketball-Reference.com.
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