As Thunder set to visit again, Durant settling in with Warriors
OAKLAND, CALIF. — They broke ground Tuesday in San Francisco for the future home of the Golden State Warriors, and as Kevin Durant stood on the site, he was put on the spot.
Durant was the player representative at the event, and the star forward — who six months ago left the Thunder for the Warriors as a free agent — was asked about the possibility of re-signing with his new team this summer.
He nodded toward the site of the Chase Center, the home of the Warriors beginning in 2019.
“It’ll be fun playing in there,” Durant said. The crowd ate it up. On Wednesday, the Warriors will host the Thunder at Oracle Arena, the second meeting this
season between Durant’s old team and his new one.
In contrast to the first go-round — a 122-96 Warriors home win on Nov. 3 — it’s not much of a story here.
Golden State boasts the league’s best record, and it’s coming off a blowout win on Monday against Cleveland, the team that beat it for the NBA title last summer. Meanwhile, Tuesday marked the long-awaited beginning of construction on an arena that promises to be one of the NBA’s finest.
Next month, Durant will return to Oklahoma City, and that will be among the biggest stories of the NBA season. On Feb. 11, at Chesapeake Energy Arena, the story will be about the franchise and the fans Durant left behind after eight seasons.
But here and now, he’s just a Warrior, a standout player who’s blending in.
“It’s been oddly the same” having Durant on Golden State, said Marcus Thompson, a columnist with the Bay Area News group who writes extensively about the Warriors. “Which is probably a testament to how well he’s fit in. There’s this huge presence that has come into the locker room, but the locker room still feels the same.”
And Durant mostly is the same player.
He’s averaging slightly fewer points — 25.8 this season, down from 28.2 in his final season with the Thunder — and taking slightly fewer shots, 17 compared to 19.2.
Durant’s shooting his career-best percentage from the floor (53.7 percent), and has the fourthhighest 3-point percentage in his 10 seasons, 39.4 percent.
He’s using fewer possessions and turning the ball over a little less. He’s blocking almost half a shot more per game.
“His efficiency’s crazy, and he’s an all-defensive player this year,” said Anthony Slater, who covers the Warriors for the Bay Area News Group and until this summer covered the Thunder for The Oklahoman. “He’s blocking shots way more than he did in Oklahoma City. A lot of it’s because he’s playing more small ball, but his complete game here is really shining.”
And the Warriors are 35-6, 3½ games ahead of the Spurs for the NBA’s best record. They’re on a 70-win pace at midseason.
Still, the transition hasn’t been seamless.
There was a fourthquarter collapse on Christmas Day, when the Cavaliers stormed back to beat the Warriors in Cleveland. There was the much-publicized moment against Memphis, when teammate Draymond Green yelled at Durant on the court for running an isolation play rather than a pick-androll.
In the preseason, the Warriors looked so fluid offensively that it seemed adding Durant to a core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Green would come easily.
Over time it became clear, Marcus Thompson said, that “It wasn’t just going to be organic.”
It’s taken work. But it’s working.
Durant looks comfortable on the court, and he seems to be settling in off it.
Curry remains in many ways the face of the franchise. But it was notable on Tuesday in San Francisco that it was Durant who stood on a dais for the groundbreaking ceremony, the former Thunder star now representing a new beginning with another team.
“We’re all excited for the future,” Durant said. “Happy I’m here.”