<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BluffCityBlue @ Jul 6 2007, 04:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>EDIT:Yeah I dont see how anybody can burn you for saying hes going to get 18ppg.....Im pretty sure everybody thinks hes capable of that if not more.</div>It sounded like he was saying that he thinks Durant will score no more than 18, or at least not 20+ like some people are saying. If Ray and Rashard were there, I could agree, but the Sonics don't really have any other worthwhile scorers. I think if the Sonics are going to ever win, KD needs to put up about 25 ppg.
If he meant no more than 18ppg, I have to disagree then. Like Justice said, Durant is easily going to be the best scorer on the team. Nobody else on the Sonics is capable of getting over 15ppg(except maybe Wilcox and Wally) so Durant is going to get the bulk of touches, and he most likely will average 20ppg or more...he may not do it efficently(like shooting 40% from the field) but he will get enough touches to get 20ppg or more.
I don't see him scoring much more than 21 points per game. Rookie wing players generally do not score that many points per game, as since Michael Jordan, the only other rookie wing player to put up more than 22 points was Allen Iverson at 23 points per game. I think he will hit a bit of a wall at times, with the ball being a bit heavier than the college ball, different types of defense, learning a new type of offense, and just getting used to playing so many games in one season. As well as having Carleismo as their new coach after being an assistant in San Antonio for a while, I'm sure he will have a bit of that San Antonio sharing of the ball coming in. So I don't think he will end up shooting all of the shots for the offense, and their will be more movement on the ball. So I really see an 18-21 points per game, definately not 25 points per game as a rookie.
I wouldnt be surprised to see the sonics at least experiment with him at pf. They are basically an inept frontcourt and with a 6,10 star scorer you have to at least be tempted to have him play a few minutes there when your best other frontcourt player is dan wilcox and danny fortson. I expect 20 ppg or somewhere around there like most people.
I predict Durant to get 21/7/2 on 44% shooting. He will be the best scorer on the team, and I do expect him to take the amount of shots necassary to achieve that mark. Because he is a rookie, I do not expect him to get the kind of attention Kobe or LeBron get, so I expect his FG % to be pretty good for a rookie. Being that he won't be playing down low like in college and won't have the size or athletic advantage that he did in college, I don't see him averaging any more than 7RPG.
