Rockets' Kevin Durant Ranked Third-Best Small Forward in NBA History

With the exception of restricted free agency, the NBA offseason has officially reached the dead period. And since training camps start back up in September, much of the basketball content will be centered around positional rankings and/or all-time lists.

Bleacher Report got it started, in a major way, dropping their top-100 players of all time, and left Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon outside of their top-10. HoopsHype's Frank Urbina took a stab at it, releasing his list of the top small forwards ever.

The Rockets' representation was much higher on this list, as newly-acquired forward Kevin Durant came in third, behind Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Boston Celtics great Larry Bird.

Urbina's synopsis is below:

"Scoring comes so easy for him that it’s almost ridiculous, as Kevin Durant is a 7-footer with ballhandling, quickness and a pristine jumper that he can hit from legitimately anywhere on the floor. Durant’s also an impactful defender when he needs to be, moving his feet quickly and blocking shots at pivotal moments. Durant may still move up a few spots in the rankings, but will not be in contention for the top spots due to missed time because of injury.

He will have to settle with being the greatest player in Olympic basketball history, the only one with four gold medals and the lone star with MVPs in the NBA, Olympics and World Cup."

Durant is the epitome of a plug-and-play player, as he's historically been able to fit into any system, regardless of the cast of players alongside him. Offensively, he knows his spots on the floor and is able to dominate efficiently, without having to heave up a litany of shots. 

But that's known. 

What Durant doesn't get credit for is his work on the defensive end, as he was easily one of the Phoenix Suns' better defenders in 2024-25. He also has underrated rim-protecting chops, which have historically been on display on the biggest stage (1.6 blocks in the 2017 NBA Finals and 2.3 blocks in the 2018 NBA Finals).

Through 17 seasons, Durant has career averages of 27.2 points, 7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.1 blocks, 1 steal, 50.2 percent from the field, 39 percent from long-range, 88.2 percent from the foul line, and 62 percent true shooting.