Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from 2017-18 season opener

1. We’re still waiting for next-level Durant integration

In 2015-16, Steve Kerr‘s second year on the bench, the Warriors learned the intricacies of his scheme in a way that took their offense from one of the best in the league to one of the best of all-time.

A similar relative leap is expected to happen with Kevin Durant in his second year under Kerr. He already set career highs in efficiency and assist-to-turnover ratio in 2016-17, but that was as much a result of playing with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green as it was about Kerr’s system.

One game into 2017-18, we still have not seen a fully-integrated Durant. Relative to most Warriors players, he is still a ball-stopper. He failed on opening night to make the quick reads that are second nature to his teammates; even the shot-hunting Thompson saw the floor better.

Durant has always been a capable passer out of double-teams, but does not necessarily sense the pressure early. This caused problems against a longer, quicker-handed Houston defense, which turned him over eight times.

Durant is incredible. In what was an off game, he still had 20 points on 17 shooting possessions (58.1 true shooting percentage), blocked four shots, had seven assists and finished a team-high +11. As for the next-level KD that many of us expected this season, we’ll have to wait at least another night.