Where Suns Star Kevin Durant Falls in NBA Rankings

Durant is battling for the top spot in positional rankings.

Apr 7, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) reacts between plays against the New Orleans Pelicans in the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports / Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns' pronounced strength going into the 2024-25 season is the existence of the dynamic duo of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant - who are frequented in top-10-to-15 player rankings for many publications.

Booker was ranked as the 2nd best shooting guard in the NBA going into free agency by HoopsHype - behind Anthony Edwards - and Durant suffered a similar fate in his own positional rankings as a small forward.

Although Durant is still considered among the elite in the league at nearly 36 years of age, he was listed as the 3rd best SF behind Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers - he also came in outside of the top 10 at number 11 overall in the league.

While James is an understandable selection over Durant, Tatum is certainly a curious choice.

Tatum is obviously coming off of his first NBA title, but it's difficult to justify the "SF1" spot outside of the hardware.

This is a season where Tatum arguably took a step forward from an efficiency standpoint, but took a step back in terms of volume and as a power broker on the defensive side of the ball.

Durant had arguably the best defensive season of his career in 2023-24, while also being the superior scorer - and the playmaking gap isn't nearly big enough to give Tatum such a substantial edge.

Perhaps the most telling in the Tatum-Durant debate is playoff performance.

Tatum obviously had greater volume in the 2024 run. Playing 19 games while being an elite rebounder, defender, and playmaker is difficult to ignore. His 28.3% mark from three-point range is concerning, however, especially due to the spacing and innovative offensive system that Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla employs.

James and Durant is more of a coin flip - Durant has a clear edge as a scorer and defender, while James remains a top-shelf playmaker at nearly 40.

The two superstars are in the twilight of their careers and still are superstar-level players that are both coming off of stronger individual seasons compared to Tatum.

Durant is still in his prime, is still a top-3 scorer in the NBA, and has as much of an all-around advantage as any of his peers.

Regardless of how the three are stacked up - they are all phenomenal players in their own right. Durant has a particularly enticing case to silence the doubters this season - and firmly re-establish himself as the best 3 in the NBA while looking to lead Phoenix to a first-ever NBA title in 2025.