Kevin Durant will play some ‘small-ball 5’ with Nets
He’s had stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors. Now, two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant will start fresh with the Brooklyn Nets. He’s been off the court for over a year following a long recovery process from an Achilles injury.
Durant will finally join forces with Kyrie Irving on the court after watching from the sidelines for an entire season. He’ll also be coached by former two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash. Nash plans to showcase Kevin Durant at times at the center position, via  Malika Andrews of ESPN.
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“I think coach is going to use me in a variety of ways, especially as a small-ball 5 and 4 sometimes,†Durant said. “And bringing the ball up, too, so I’ve just got to be ready for anything.â€
According to Durant, the Nets aren’t placing an “emphasis†on playing center during small-ball lineups, with coach Steve Nash instead encouraging position-less basketball.
With Nash along with Mike D’Antoni as assistant coach, Brooklyn will likely be going with a run-and-gun style next season. The team may emulate the style played by Nash and coached by D’Antoni with the Phoenix Suns. This might bode well for Durant and Irving as a result if both players can stay healthy.
Read: Stephen Curry Thinks Warriors Can Defy Expectations
The real question moving forward for Durant is whether he’ll be the same dominant player of old before he suffered the Achilles injury in the NBA Finals two years ago.
Most players never fully recover from the devastating injury, meaning the odds are against Durant to be a force to be reckoned once again as a player that many considered to be in the running for the best in the NBA.
