Kevin Durant was a defensive revelation during the seven-game bloodbath between the Thunder and Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, and the Dubs will be counting on KD to lock people up going forward.
Golden State assistant coach Ron Adams had a role in the wooing of the former MVP this summer—they had worked together for two years in OKC—and says that he can’t wait to integrate Durant’s in the Warriors’ defense.
Durant’s length and versatility make him an absolute terror on both ends of the floor.
Per CSN Bay Area:
Just as Adams focused on defense for the Thunder, he does now for the Warriors, who last season finished third in field-goal percentage defense. The coach most responsible for schemes, he is both tactician and critic, citing video to point out every missed assignment, including the subtle errors others won’t even see, much less understand.
“Ron can’t wait,” Leah Adams, wife of the veteran assistant, says, “to integrate Kevin into that defense.” […] “His versatility is outstanding,” Ron Adams says of Durant. “He’s a terrific defender, who played with great defensive consistency in our playoff series. We will expect a lot out of him in that regard.”
Durant’s versatility is perfect for the schemes devised by Adams, who believes the new roster will continue to be suited for switching on defense. The Warriors last season switched on 24 percent of screens, by far the most in the league. Durant’s defensive metrics on switches are vastly superior to those of former Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes. […] “He can, if necessary, guard all five positions – and do it effectively,” Adams says of Durant, who spent most of the conference finals smothering Warriors forward Draymond Green. “He’s a really good rim protector, in a non-traditional way,” (Steve) Kerr says. “When he played the ‘four’ against us in the playoffs, he was brilliant. He blocked some shots and he scored a bunch of times. So he’ll play a lot of ‘four’ for us, for sure.”
