Since Kevin Durant joined the Suns, when he can play healthy, the main thing is called a "relaxed freehand". Except for the shooting that felt a little cold in the recent comeback, other times, Durant's offense is very relaxed.
Now the Suns are firmly in the 4th place in the West, so the 5th place in the West has become a hot ass position, the Clippers and Warriors do not think of this position, the Lakers and Pelicans behind have a chance to kill the 5th place, they definitely want not to play the playoffs, but go straight to the playoffs, but their hearts may not think that the 5th position will touch the full Suns in the first round.
Because, the complete body of the sun is too scary, just look at how easy Durant is.
Due to Durant's knee failure to recover when he arrived, and an ankle injury later during the pre-game warm-up, Durant didn't have much time to run in with the Suns, and he has only played 6 games so far. In these six games, Durant averaged 26.8 points in 32.5 minutes per game, shooting 60.4% from the field and 51.9% from three-point range.
Why is Durant so efficient? Durant's perverted ball-holding ability needs no longer be mentioned, and his mid-range dry shooting efficiency this season is historic. The most impressive thing about Durant is that he fits so well with the Suns.
How can this fit be demonstrated? One data speaks for itself. So far, Durant's athletic goal assist rate is as high as 62.1%, which shows that he has become more relaxed offense since coming to the Suns, relying more on teammate passes and using team cooperation to score rather than going it alone.
For comparison, before in the Nets, Durant's assist rate was only 48%, which shows that Durant in the Nets era played more alone, and the Nets lacked team cooperation.
The last time Durant had an assist percentage of more than 60 percent was back in 2016-17, his first season with the Warriors, where he reached 61.7 percent, one of Durant's most efficient offensive seasons, shooting 65.1 percent from the field.
In the Suns' offensive system, Durant's style of play has changed a lot, and Monty Williams has become more and more handy in using Durant recently, and his tricks are increasing.
For example, in this round, Devin Booker holds the ball at the top of the arc, and Durant plays a cross with Ayton. This time Durant did not use Ayton's cover, but his movement stuck the opponent behind, and suddenly a reverse ran to the basket, and Booker assisted Durant for an empty layup.
After today's game, Durant specifically mentioned that his cooperation with Ayton needs to be improved, in fact, the cooperation between the two has derived a variety of routines.
For example, in this round, Paul holds the ball on the left side, and Durant cuts out with the help of Ayton to cover the free throw line, which is a tactic that makes full use of Durant's deterrent shooting in the penalty area, Durant attracts defense, and Ayton catches the ball directly after going down.
Looking at this round again, this is exactly the same tactical move, except this time Durant chose to catch the ball himself.
Change a player to hold the ball, Booker holds the ball, Durant continues to catch the ball around Ayton, this time Durant becomes a "blocker and dismantler" after receiving the ball, Ayton sets him a second cover, Durant holds the ball and shoots in the field.
The Suns' "luxury" now is that when Paul and Ayton block and dismantle, Booker and Durant can both be used as off-ball shooters. Durant, in particular, is like cheating when he lands in the bottom corner, and the bottom corner three-point is like a mid-range shot for him.
Look at these two rounds, today against the Thunder, the Suns play this tactic for two consecutive rounds, Durant's left bottom corner, Paul and Ayton block and break through, Ayton goes down, when the Thunder crowd's attention is focused on Ayton, Paul widely shifts the ball to find the bottom corner, and Durant hits consecutive three-point shots.
The super scorer does not take the ball, but makes a fixed point battery in the bottom corner, who does the opponent reason with?
Durant is probably the most compatible star in history, he can adapt to any star, any system. Previously with the Warriors, Durant played a lot of passes. Now in the Suns, the Suns are more advocating the use of blocking and dismantling to make a fuss, and Durant can also adapt. Paul and Booker can hold the ball, Ayton has a downward threat and a mid-range threat, and Durant works with the three of them, facing less defensive pressure, can play more without the ball to accumulate physical strength, and efficiency can also be guaranteed.
And for the opponent, this is terrifying. Durant's no-ball is difficult enough to defend, if Durant takes out the ball to attack at a critical moment, how can the opponent still defend, they can only pray that Durant himself loses.