Take Your Pick: Kobe vs. Durant

[ManOnTheMoon]

Throughout the NBA preseason, out fantasy basketball editors will engage in head-to-head battles regarding two closely-ranked players. In this first installment, we start very near the top of all draft boards. Most people rank Chris Paul, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade as their top-three talents. Is Kobe Bryant the clear-cut No. 4 choice? Or should you opt for Kevin Durant? Ted and Cory debate.

 

Kobe Bryant, SG, Lakers (by Ted Carlson)

It's not too difficult to build a case for one of the best-known basketball players in the world. Kobe has been a top-five fantasy producer for roughly 10 seasons, but I'm assuming that Cory is worried about his slowly declining numbers and the addition of Ron Artest. If you look at last year's totals, you will find that Bryant faded in nearly every category. But that's not the whole story.

 

The Lakers won the West by 11 games, and Bryant eased up on the gas a bit as he geared up for the postseason. His regular season bottom line was affected by the fact that Kobe averaged only 33.5 minutes and 15.5 shots per game in April. That allowed him to save some juice for the playoffs, when he poured in 30.2 points and added 5.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 0.9 blocks, and 1.6 threes. Bryant is fine. He is (nearly) as good as ever.

 

Like most fantasy owners, I love Durant and his immense potential, but Kobe has one huge advantage - assists. He is way ahead of Durant when is comes to dishing out dimes. In fact, Bryant doesn't really have a weakness in his fantasy game. He pretty much covers all the cats and will allow me to stay flexible with my next draft picks. Durant is better in rebounds, but when it comes to the middle and later rounds, I'm much more comfortable finding players who hit the boards than I am uncovering quality assist options.

 

You can't go wrong with Kobe, right?

I'll give another reason why assists provides the necessary difference in this debate. As Cory pointed out in his recent article about Round 2 of fantasy drafts, the elite point guards will go early and often this year. By the time the owner sitting in the No. 4 spot comes back up, many of the top-tier passers could be gone. If I'm holding Kobe and his (roughly) five dimes per night, I can grab the best player available and wait for a lesser point guard. If I picked Durant earlier, I might need to reach for a point guard or simply punt the assists category.

 

 

Kevin Durant, G/F, Thunder (by Cory Elfrink)

It must be difficult defending an 11-time All-Star, 7-time All-NBA first-teamer, 7-time defensive first-teamer, 4-time scoring champ (total points), 4-time NBA champion, and former MVP against a 20-year-old from D.C. But this is an argument about the future, which puts Ted at a distinct disadvantage.

 

As a rail-thin 19-year-old, Durant easily took home Rookie of the Year honors by scoring 20.3 points per game - the fifth-highest scoring mark for a rookie since Bryant came into the league in 1996. Durant took things to a higher level in his second season as he averaged 25.3 points, the second-highest mark in NBA history for a player under 21. Who outdid him? LeBron.

 

But Durant, like Bryant, contributes more than simply points to your fantasy roster. His three-point shooting increased from 28.8 percent as a rookie to 42.2 percent last season. That ranked 7th in the league among regular starters. His 6.1 free throws made per game ranked him eighth in the league, and he converted 86.3 percent of his attempts - the 4th best free-throw impact in the league. Defensively, Durant is a work in progress, but he has already averaged 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks per game in his career. He could reach the coveted block per game and steal per game status in his third season.

 

Bryant has arguably been the best fantasy player of the decade, but his numbers last season were all among his worst in the post-Kobe-Shaq era. He is 31, and his team is loaded. The addition of Artest will only take away more shots and points from Bryant. Simply put, Durant's upside is far greater than Bryant's.

 

Link: http://www.rototimes.com/article/2009/8/Take-Your-Pick-Kobe-vs-Durant