Overhyping Kevin Durant: Part Deux

You have no idea how unfairly (to him and others) overrated this kid is. In the second edition of Overhyping Durant, I'll compare him to Rajon Rondo and Pau Gasol. Please read the first edition where I compare him to Dwyane Wade if you haven't already. I'm not going to justify why I singled out Durant, because I've done that on the aforementioned prequel. 

It's not easy making logical and accurate interposition comparisons, so bear with me. As I said before, I look at production in each category, in terms of consistent, versatile, efficient, dominant production in accordance to minutes, athleticism, height, team system, and role. Ranked in order of importance:

Defense: Rondo easily takes the cake here. He is probably the best pound-for-pound man-to-man defender in the NBA. Very feisty and contests every shot as well and is always wreaking havoc in the lanes. He also is an underrated shot blocker. Gasol is an intelligent defender albeit not physical, but uses his length and skills to harass big men. Like I said before: Durant is an average defender, all the physical tools necessary to dominate, but lacks awareness and consistency. 

1. Rondo
2. Gasol
3. Durant

Leadership: Rondo has become a leader amongst and earned the respect of Pierce, Allen, Garnett, and Rivers. That's a big accomplishment. Gasol has joined a championship team and has played spectacular and seems to always be am active part of the huddle. Durant is a lead by example guy with tremendous maturity for someone his age. I think they're all equal, but Rondo with a slight edge over the other two at this point.

1. Rondo
T2. Gasol
T2. Durant

Scoring: Durant gets a ridiculous amount of one-on-one isolations. That being said, he's still EASILY the best scorer out of the bunch, being a crazy efficient for a jumpshooter. Gasol is a very good secondary scorer, and is a 25 ppg when he's the go to guy. Rondo has to take a step back with all scorers he's surrounded with but we know what he is capable of. Gasol is probably the most versatile scorer of the three.

1. Durant
2. Gasol
3. Rondo

Clutchness: This is probably Durant's biggest downfall. He really doesn't hit the big shots and really hasn't been tested on the defensive end in the clutch. It'll come with experience... (deja vu?) Rondo is a very clutch defender and passer and recognizes his role on the offensive end getting the ball into a good sport for Allen or Pierce, which he does ridiculously well. Gasol is as clutch big men get. 

1. Rondo
2. Gasol
3. Durant

Passing: Gasol has PG skills as a PF, seriously. He's a passable PG for crying out loud and could run an offense. Rondo is a top tier passer in the NBA obviously, but he's surrounded by talent as well. But he is the one of the best PGs out there. Durant needs to pass more and pass better. Not much to say here.

T1. Rondo
T1. Gasol
3. Durant

Rebounding: Rondo is an excellent rebounder on both ends for his position but he's in a very bad rebounding team, and he's really long. Durant and Gasol are in top tier teams, but they manage to rack up rebounds. For his wingspan, Durant does not rack up enough and Gasol overachieves, getting 11 rpg with Odom and Bynum getting many minutes.

1. Gasol
2. Durant
3. Rondo

THE VERDICT: Even though Rondo took the most important categories, Gasol has never been the bottom feeder, something a I really value. But each win they have were by a slight margin. Overall, I will give it to Rondo, because defense is 50% of the game (hence ranked most important). Durant needs to improve on everything except scoring, which he will hopefully do this summer. Since passing and rebounding are unfair, let's no consider those. Rondo then promptly beats Durant 3-1 and Gasol 2-1. Hence they are one and two on this list. With Rebound and assist, Rondo has the edge 4-2 and Gasol's advantage is 4-1. 

1. Rondo
2. Gasol
3. Durant

Feedback is appreciated.