How Kevin Durant provides cover for the Phoenix Suns

When you hear "security blanket" within a sports context, youmight think of a tight end in football.

A quarterback has his top target. A speed demon on the outsidelike Tyreek Hill; a route technician like Stefon Diggs; a YAC(yards after catch) machine like AJ Brown; a "Yes" build like NFLOffensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson.

But then, there's the check. Your hot read. Yourif-all-else-fails option if the primary or even secondary lookisn't there. That guy can be your running back, but my mind goes tothe tight end. Releasing to the flat in play action. Sitting downin the middle of the zone for the eight yards you need onthird-and-six.

In all the ways I thought about breaking down Kevin Durant's fitwith the Phoenix Suns, whenever he makes his return following anMCL sprain, I kept coming back to the tight-end angle.

Durant is Phoenix's very-large, very-skilled,frankly-overqualified security blanket.

(Is the upcoming Super Bowl, particularly the participation ofthe Philadelphia Eagles, a factor in why I landed on a footballanalogy? Who's to say, really. But we rally on, friends.)

If we're extending the analogy, it's worth reiterating thatDurant is overqualified for this. He is more George Kittle orTravis Kelce than he is [insert run-of-the-mill possession tightend here]. You can build the boat around Durant much like you canwith those two.

On the field, their teams enjoy deploying them all over theplace. On the line, split out wide, in the slot. Their presencealone forces the defense into checks; demands a level of attentionthat is both necessary and uncomfortable in light of the talentaround them.

Durant will be moved all over the chess board, used in amultitude of ways.

Directly, he can operate as the screener or ball-handler inpick-and-rolls. He will be a hub in the middle of the floor, aspart of their Elbow sets — read a detailed breakdown here — or the recipient ofclear-outs following an off-ball screen.

I can't emphasize how important Durant's screen work will be,and how seamless of a fit he'll be in the Suns' offense because ofit.

His off-ball work is the stuff of legends. Guys his sizeshouldn't be able to navigate traffic the way he does. Throughouthis career — in Seattle (RIP), Oklahoma City, Golden State andBrooklyn — Durant has made a living flying off screens and raisingup for easy (for him) ones.