NBA Player Rankings: Top-10 Small Forwards In The NBA

2. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

Numbers to know:
Player 1: FG – 9.6/19.3 = 49.6%; ORtg – 115; TS% – 56.4%; PER – 23.5; WS/48 – 0.203
Player 2: FG – 9.2/19.1 = 48.1%; ORtg – 116; TS% – 60.1%; PER – 24.7; WS/48 – 0.207

Player 1 is none other than Larry Bird. Player 2 is the man known as Durantula. Ummm, wow!

While this has been a very stats-driven rankings, these final two players don’t need additional numbers to justify their standings. For eight seasons, KD has been a thorn in the side of all his fantasy opponents and a constant reminder of what could’ve been for basketball fans from Seattle. For everyone else, he can do no wrong. Sticking to the Larry Bird parallels, Durant has won awards in both the NCAA (AP Player of the Year, John Wooden, Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year) and the NBA (Rookie of the Year, All-Star Game MVP, NBA MVP).

He already has one Finals appearance under his belt. In each of his three seasons since losing Harden, his Thunder have suffered a crippling injury — Westbrook (2013), Ibaka (2014), Durant (2015) — that could have otherwise led to conference championships.

Despite these setbacks, OKC still figures to be in the thick of the race to raise the Larry O’Brien trophy. Durant is a 6-foot-9 version of Steph Curry — absolutely unguardable. He can shoot over shooting guards, drive past power forwards, and do both to other small forwards. On the other side of the ball, he’s twice finished in the top-10 in defensive rebounds, and also finished in the top-10 in defensive win shares in four seasons.

With the stats and resume similar to the (former) greatest small forward of all-time, only one player could possibly be ranked higher.

Next: LeBron James