To me Kevin Durant is the biggest pussy in NBA history. And on top of that he's always come across as fake to me, especially when he capitalized on the LeBron hatred and portrayed himself as the nice guy.
That being said, he is easily the second best player in the NBA in my opinion. He's one the greatest scorers ever, capable of scoring in practically every way possible. He is also a good, if unspectacular, passer, as well as a solid rebounder and defender.
Sorry I didn't respond last night. Lot of stuff going on. I wanted to "like" your post because: a) it was well thought-out; and b) so you knew I read it.
For me it is:
1) LBJ
2) Westbrook
3) KD
4) Curry
5) Harden
Kevin Durant's shooting, length, and rebounding makes him an analytics dream. I totally accept putting him as second behind LeBron. With that said, I remember in 2014 people were talking about how Kevin Durant has replaced LeBron as the best NBA player and to me it was not even close.
I tend to place shooting lower on the tier of "important NBA skills," though, because there is either a positive or negative cost that stems from the action. Players whose games are centered around shooting, consequently, can be much larger negatives than those whose games are more all-around good. That is not to say I dislike shooters - far from it, I do enjoy watching guys like KD, Curry, and even Kyrie, and they are very valuable players - but that when I rank, a player who can defeat opponents on multiple levels even when his shot is not falling is far more valuable in important games.
I.E., I honestly do not believe KD choked the last three games of the WCF last season. His shot just stopped falling and that make OKC crumble. I'd posit the Cavs found a way to make Curry uncomfortable enough that his shooting had a negative cost associated to it
in some games during the past two finals.
Overall, this is all a personal preference thing for me. KD is the perfect player for the Warriors' system. Moreover, players like LBJ and Russ would suck in that offense, or at least not be as good as Durant is. So I want to be explicitly clear: shooting is very important. I simply prefer guys who can inflict costs in a variety of ways rather than just as a shooter because of the game theoretic dilemma I pointed out above.