Kevin Durant grabbed outlet passes. He stepped out and fed post players who were running down the middle of the floor.
When he did go inside, he soared to the baseline for a rebound over Wally Szczerbiak, the veteran small forward who at six-foot-seven is two inches shorter but far more bulky than the teenager with the body of a greyhound.
The one time he was in the middle during a fast-break drill that ended the 90-minute session, Durant rose above the rim with both hands clutching the ball. Yet instead of dunking, he simply and smoothly dropped the ball through the hoop.
The second overall pick in June's draft was on the outside looking in during the first practice of his NBA life. He was a shooting guard.
It seemed to fit.
For now, he's in the same "2" spot that all-star Ray Allen held in Seattle from 2003 until he was traded to Boston for Szczerbiak, Delonte West and fifth overall choice Jeff Green, moments after the Sonics drafted Durant.
The other conclusion from Seattle's first practice, a month before the season gets real at Denver for a team that finished 31-51 last season: Forget that he was running with the second team Tuesday. Durant will be starting from Game 1.
Carlesimo all but declared that.
Last season at Texas, as Durant became the first freshman to be national player of the year, he often dropped into the low post when a smaller defender dared to guard him. But mostly he stayed outside as a big guard or small forward.
Durant, 6-9, said he's comfortable as a guard in the running-when-available style that Carlesimo, a defensive mind, has hired assistant Paul Westhead to install.
It's not going to be the warp-speed offence that Westhead, who last month won the WNBA championship with Phoenix, famously ran at Loyola Marymount in the early 1990s. Not that Durant would know.
He'd never heard of Westhead's style until last week. Durant looked puzzled at the mention of Hank Gathers' death on the court and LMU's magical run deep into the 1990 NCAA tournament that followed it.
No wonder. Durant was 18 months old when that happened.
Carlesimo sees talent as much as he sees a kid who turned 19 Saturday and is living with his mom in a rented house in the Seattle suburbs.
Carlesimo compared Durant's physical development to that of a player who entered the NBA skinny and did OK: Michael Jordan.
When he did go inside, he soared to the baseline for a rebound over Wally Szczerbiak, the veteran small forward who at six-foot-seven is two inches shorter but far more bulky than the teenager with the body of a greyhound.
The one time he was in the middle during a fast-break drill that ended the 90-minute session, Durant rose above the rim with both hands clutching the ball. Yet instead of dunking, he simply and smoothly dropped the ball through the hoop.
The second overall pick in June's draft was on the outside looking in during the first practice of his NBA life. He was a shooting guard.
It seemed to fit.
For now, he's in the same "2" spot that all-star Ray Allen held in Seattle from 2003 until he was traded to Boston for Szczerbiak, Delonte West and fifth overall choice Jeff Green, moments after the Sonics drafted Durant.
The other conclusion from Seattle's first practice, a month before the season gets real at Denver for a team that finished 31-51 last season: Forget that he was running with the second team Tuesday. Durant will be starting from Game 1.
Carlesimo all but declared that.
Last season at Texas, as Durant became the first freshman to be national player of the year, he often dropped into the low post when a smaller defender dared to guard him. But mostly he stayed outside as a big guard or small forward.
Durant, 6-9, said he's comfortable as a guard in the running-when-available style that Carlesimo, a defensive mind, has hired assistant Paul Westhead to install.
It's not going to be the warp-speed offence that Westhead, who last month won the WNBA championship with Phoenix, famously ran at Loyola Marymount in the early 1990s. Not that Durant would know.
He'd never heard of Westhead's style until last week. Durant looked puzzled at the mention of Hank Gathers' death on the court and LMU's magical run deep into the 1990 NCAA tournament that followed it.
No wonder. Durant was 18 months old when that happened.
Carlesimo sees talent as much as he sees a kid who turned 19 Saturday and is living with his mom in a rented house in the Seattle suburbs.
Carlesimo compared Durant's physical development to that of a player who entered the NBA skinny and did OK: Michael Jordan.
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