Kevin Durant Will Play Some Point Guard This Season For The Nets

Just a few days after Kevin Durant said he could play some “small-ball five” with the Nets, head Steve Nash said Durant will also play some point guard this season.

The Nets open the Durant/Kyrie Irving Era Sunday night with their first preseason game at home against the Wizards.

Durant, who will be playing his first game since rupturing his Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on June 10, 2019, is listed at 6-foot-10 but appears to be closer to 7 feet.

“I think Kevin will can play all five positions offensively,” Nash said on a Zoom call with reporters. “He could guard all five positions, too. That depends. I don’t know if we’ll see a ton of time with him at the one but he’s definitely a ball-handler, play-maker and can thrive in pick-and-roll situations so he will play a one at times.

“We are trending toward position-less basketball on our roster. We have lots of guys that can handle the point, set the team up, make plays, so they’ll all probably have a part in that.”

Earlier this week, Durant said the Nets were experimenting with position-less basketball and having him play some “small-ball five [or] four” as well as “bringing the ball up, too.”

“So I just gotta be ready for anything,” Durant said.

Nash said he plans to start Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, Durant and DeAndre Jordan. He said Caris Levert (patella contusion) is out Sunday.

Taurean Prince first mentioned the idea of Durant playing point guard in some instances.

“We’ve tried out so many different lineups, different people,” he said.

“Any position I think could open it up for us, playing Kevin at the one, one through five, me two, three, four, Joe two, three, Ky one, two, three, Caris two through three, Jeff [Green] three-four so there’s a lot of versatility on this team so I think it gives us a lot of options,” he said.

The Nets are expected to win the Atlantic Division and contend for an NBA title, and Prince called Durant and Irving “wow factors daily.” He added “there’s a lot of talent in the gym, a lot of hard workers, a lot of guys who do a lot of different things great.”

As for playing without fans in the stands at Barclays Center, Prince compared it to the NBA’s minor league.

“If you’ve ever played in the G League, you’ll be fine,” Prince said. “There’s not a lot of fans in those types of situations, either.”

Nash, who will be coaching his first NBA game, will experiment with different lineups to get a look at as many players as possible.

“We’ll try to get as many guys looks as possible to get them that rhythm and cohesion and keep building but at the same time we have to build accordingly,” Nash said. “We’ll try to get everyone a look, try to evaluate everyone, try to evaluate combinations and give as many people a chance as possible to feel the rhythm of an actual game.”

The excitement around the team is palpable as the Nets look to overtake the Knicks as the city’s most important basketball team and contend for an NBA championship.

“I’m excited, it’s a great opportunity after this process to get out there and have a dress rehearsal to kind of break the ice and get us one step closer to the real thing,” Nash said.

“Great opportunity for us to feel it and run through it and hopefully get something out of the game….It’s great, we’re just knocking off these little barriers, these little steps and getting closer to the real thing.”