Kevin Durant's decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors has been placed under a microscope in pretty much every light in the day-plus since he made the NBA-altering move to Oakland.
Though, there has not necessarily been much of a focus on this from a fantasy basketball perspective. And in reality, it's an absolutely huge move in the fake basketball world. Here's why.
The Warriors averaged 87.3 shots per game a season ago. And that was playing at the highest pace the NBA has seen in over a decade. Unless the team somehow finds a way to play at a higher tempo, this is going to mean less shots for at least one of the four All-NBA performers on the team.
Durant should still get his shot. After all, here's a dude that has shot at a 50 percent clip over the course of his career. Same goes for Curry, who simply can't risk not shooting the ball based on his historical success this past season.
What's going to be most interesting here is to see how Thompson and Green are impacted by the addition of Durant. It seems as if Thompson will be impacted a great deal. Let's say both Durant and Curry average nearly 20 shots per game, that would seem to suggest that Thompson's shot totals will drop to under 15 per game with Green hitting the single digits.
Though, the most-interesting fantasy-related aspect of the Durant signing will surround just how successful the Warriors are when they shoot the ball. In reality, last year's success (Durant included) would make for one heck of a fantasy team in and of itself.
To have two players with a 60-plus true field goal percentage is absolutely insane. In fact, Durant and Curry are the only two players in the NBA that took a majority of their shots from outside the line to compile that percentage. Curry's effective field goal percentage was primarily based on his record-setting performance from beyond the arc, but all four players here are at 55-plus percent. Again, that's absolutely insane.
While Thompson and Green should see a decrease in shots, the addition of Durant should enable every member of the Warriors to get more uncontested shots. If that's the case, the NBA had better find a way to defend here or the Warriors are going to put up 130-plus points on a nightly basis.
With the game's two-best shooters on the court next to him, we can fully expect the percentage of uncontested shots Durant takes to be well over the 50 percent threshold we saw from Curry and Thompson a season ago. Interestingly enough, and this could play a role in his fantasy output, Thompson shot at a better clip when actually seeing a defender contest him. That might be an outlier, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on.
Another thing to look at here are assist totals. With another player capable of winning the scoring title on the roster, Curry should see a substantial increase here. This means that his fantasy production is unlikely to drop even if his scoring numbers go down.
We will definitely be providing more in-depth fantasy basketball analysis relating to this historic off-season move from Durant, but these advanced stats tell us a story of two former MVP's that will likely find themselves among the best at their positions from a fake basketball perspective.