Kevin Durant is a one-of-a-kind player that we haven’t seen ever in basketball before. While we have seen shooting seven-footers, nobody at that size has ever shot it as proficiently as KD outside Dirk Nowitzki.
Durant has always kept an eye out for younger talent that shows the talent to play in a mold similar to his. He infamously crowned Kristaps Porzingis as the unicorn when the 7’3 Latvian showed that he was an absolute sniper when he was drafted by the New York Knicks. However, he won’t be taking KD’s mantle from him as he has shown an inability to stay healthy and blossom into his full potential.
So who will be crowned the next KD? It is probably Gonzaga Bulldogs’ big man Chet Holmgren. Holmgren is a top-three recruit in the 2022 NBA Draft Class and is expected to make an instant impact in the NBA for being a skinny 7-footer who is a three-level scorer. Sound familiar?
Durant was extremely praiseful of Holmgren on the latest episode of his podcast ‘The ETCs’, which is co-hosted by Eddie Gonzales.
“Yeah, I can see why. He’s probably taller than I am. He’s got talent, though. He has skills. He just dribbling and shooting. He’ll probably be a matchup problem.”
Holmgren will most definitely be a problem for most modern NBA bigs because of his incredible size and movement. Holmgren moves like a small forward and has the shooting ability of a guard in the frame of a genuine 7-footer.
Chet is a skinny player like KD, but he will most likely be tasked with playing as a modern NBA center. For that, he will have to develop his strength to hang with the likes of Joel Embiid, Giannis ANtetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic. But offensively, Holmgren can shoot over virtually anybody and can make his shot on a consistent level. KD has scouted the future, and this player could be one we talk about for a long time.
