http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3047285
Just a couple snippets:
The second overall pick in June's draft was on the outside looking in during the first practice of his NBA life. He was a shooting guard.
It seemed to fit.
"It's the same system we ran at Texas, so I'm comfortable in it," Durant said with a smile.
For now, he's in the same "2" spot that All-Star Ray Allen held in Seattle from 2003 until he was traded to Boston for Szczerbiak, Delonte West and fifth overall choice Jeff Green, moments after the Sonics drafted Durant.
"In my opinion, that's where he's best suited right now," said new Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, who Tuesday ran his first practice as an NBA head man since Golden State fired him in 1999. "Because of the way he shoots the ball, the way he handles the ball, and the fact that he is not as physical right now as he's going to be before he's done.
"He's like -- he's not like Magic Johnson at all -- but he's like Magic in that you can play him probably any of four positions, if not five. Playing the 2, he's not going to get beat up, box to box, the whole game."
"We've got 29 days until we go to Denver. If he's able to get comfortable in those 29 days, then he's going to be [starting]," Carlesimo said. "It's hard for me to imagine him not being in our rotation right off the bat -- but that's not fair to the other guys, and that's not fair to him, because I'm doing exactly what I'm saying everyone else shouldn't do.
"But you ask me my opinion, yes," Carlesimo added, chuckling, "I can't imagine him not being one of our key guys."
Carlesimo compared Durant's physical development to that of a player who entered the NBA skinny and did OK: Michael Jordan.
"If you look at Michael when he first came in the league, then you look at pictures later, you're like, 'Wow!' That wasn't all weight training," the coach said. "A lot of that was Michael was getting big, filling out. And that's what's going to happen with Kevin."
Just a couple snippets:
The second overall pick in June's draft was on the outside looking in during the first practice of his NBA life. He was a shooting guard.
It seemed to fit.
"It's the same system we ran at Texas, so I'm comfortable in it," Durant said with a smile.
For now, he's in the same "2" spot that All-Star Ray Allen held in Seattle from 2003 until he was traded to Boston for Szczerbiak, Delonte West and fifth overall choice Jeff Green, moments after the Sonics drafted Durant.
"In my opinion, that's where he's best suited right now," said new Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, who Tuesday ran his first practice as an NBA head man since Golden State fired him in 1999. "Because of the way he shoots the ball, the way he handles the ball, and the fact that he is not as physical right now as he's going to be before he's done.
"He's like -- he's not like Magic Johnson at all -- but he's like Magic in that you can play him probably any of four positions, if not five. Playing the 2, he's not going to get beat up, box to box, the whole game."
"We've got 29 days until we go to Denver. If he's able to get comfortable in those 29 days, then he's going to be [starting]," Carlesimo said. "It's hard for me to imagine him not being in our rotation right off the bat -- but that's not fair to the other guys, and that's not fair to him, because I'm doing exactly what I'm saying everyone else shouldn't do.
"But you ask me my opinion, yes," Carlesimo added, chuckling, "I can't imagine him not being one of our key guys."
Carlesimo compared Durant's physical development to that of a player who entered the NBA skinny and did OK: Michael Jordan.
"If you look at Michael when he first came in the league, then you look at pictures later, you're like, 'Wow!' That wasn't all weight training," the coach said. "A lot of that was Michael was getting big, filling out. And that's what's going to happen with Kevin."
