NBA: Player attributes once seen as a flaw that are now an asset

1. Kevin Durant

Last and certainly not least, Kevin Durant. Durant was drafted second overall in 2007 by the Seattle SuperSonics. The Portland Trail Blazers passed on Durant and instead to Greg Oden who had a short NBA career due to many unfortunate injuries. The main reason the Trail Blazers felt comfortable passing on Durant was because of his thin physique.

DraftExpress.com said “Durant has his fair share of weaknesses that need to be worked on. The most obvious one would be his body, which is thin and frail.”. They weren’t the only ones saying it either. Kevin Durant was criticized endlessly for being too skinny and was told by everyone to put on a few pounds.

Despite his thin frame Kevin Durant is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to ever play in the NBA. He has made the best of his thin body by using his height and high release to shoot over stronger defenders and his speed and quickness to drive past slower defenders.

Now that guys like Durant and Ingram have thrived in the NBA while maintaining their skinny physiques, it will likely open doors for more skinny guys to do the same. For example, LaMelo Ball who is a projected top-three pick in the 2020 NBA draft has gotten the skinny guy label.

With the recent successes of Durant and Ingram, I’m wondering if that will influence teams to look past Ball’s thin frame. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.