Oklahoma City Thunder: 3 Ways Kevin Durant Can Improve During This Lockout

One positive a labor stoppage can bring to professional athletes is giving them more time than they’d usually have to improve. A player as young as Kevin Durant can benefit from such time immensely.

At just 23 years of age, Durant is nowhere near his prime, which is absolutely terrifying if you aren’t a Thunder fan. He’s a 6’9” perimeter player with a wingspan over seven feet and a killer jump shot. He’s also shown that he can use his height to score in the post.

However, he does have things he can improve on. Here are three ways he should be spending his time off.

Put on Some Weight

It’s far from ideal for a guy who is near seven feet tall to weigh a mere 230 pounds. Durant still hasn’t gotten his “man body” yet, as some say, although he is a lot sturdier now than four years ago when he first joined the professional ranks.

He still isn’t there yet though. LeBron James is a bit shorter than Durant and weighs a lean 250 pounds. If Durant could get anywhere near that, he would be impossible to stop.

Improve His Ball-Handling

One thing that is true of all perimeter players is that they must take care of the ball. This is harder for a guy like Durant who, because of his height, holds the ball much higher than most perimeter guys. This has led to Durant turning the ball over too much so far in his career.

He’s averaged three turnovers per game in four NBA seasons, although that his turnovers per game last season was the lowest of the four.

Durant must get stronger with the ball on the perimeter. His dribbling is good, but he must learn to keep the ball secure when he holds it on the outside.

Study, Study, Study

This might seem dumb, since every player should be doing this right now.

However, it is especially for a guy like Durant, a young superstar on an up-and-coming contender. This time off is a great opportunity for Durant to watch how he’s been defended and make himself into an even better scorer.

He can also watch himself on defense, an area in which he has improved but still has a considerable ways to go.

Either way, Durant has room to improve and now time to do it. He’s been a gym rat all of his life, and that habit should continue this offseason and for the rest of his career.