Would You Rather Have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving or LeBron James and AD?

Ringo H.W. Chiu/Associated Press

Team-building philosophies in the NBA have gone through plenty of ebbs and flows over the years.

A decade ago, it was all about the Big Three model adopted by LeBron James and the Miami Heat. In 2016, the Golden State Warriors upped the ante by adding 2013-14 MVP Kevin Durant to their three All-Stars. Now, in the wake of that dynasty’s collapse, much of the league appears to be keen on the “duo and depth” model.

On Christmas Day, we saw a stunning display of two contenders who built that way: LeBron, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers in the West and Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets in the East.

Both squads are just two games into 2020-21, but they’ve shown more than enough to back up the analysis many provided heading into the season. These are two potential juggernauts, with top-tier top twos that complement each other and boast loads of talent and accolades.

In the matinee, Brooklyn smashed the Boston Celtics 123-95 at TD Garden. Durant had 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Kyrie went for 37 on 13-of-21 shooting to go along with eight assists and six rebounds.

What’s more important than the numbers, though, is how KD looks.

Over the course of NBA history, the dreaded Achilles tear has been one of the game’s most devastating injuries. It has cratered the careers of a number of players.

Durant may be on his way to changing that perception. For his entire career, KD’s game has been predicated on a unique combination of size (6’10”, 240 lbs) and shooting ability. No one could’ve blamed him for relying even more on that jumper, but he’s taking the ball to the rim and attacking closeouts in seemingly the same fashion he did pre-injury.

“After seeing Kevin Durant in person twice in a week, it’s remarkable he looks exactly as he did before he hurt his Achilles,” ESPN’s Tim Bontemps wrote. “It’s a league-changing event.”

If the patient approach Durant applied to his recovery becomes the norm for ruptured Achilles, perhaps the injury might be destigmatized a bit. Once upon a time, we looked at torn ACLs with much more foreboding.

The ultimate triumph over the tear, of course, would be a title. And though it’s early (very early), Durant appears to have a running mate and supporting cast capable of ending 2020-21 with an NBA Finals win.

Irving has been there before, and his one-on-one game lends itself well to the high-pressure possessions of postseason basketball. When opposing coaching staffs can focus on the sets and systems of a team within a series, the ability to just go get a bucket becomes more important.

If we’re focusing just on the duos, Brooklyn may have the edge on that front. Over the last 10 seasons (including the start of this year), 50.3 percent of AD’s and LeBron’s field goals have been assisted (Davis’ individual mark is 69.1 percent). KD’s and Kyrie’s buckets were assisted 42.8 percent of the time over the same span.

There’s a fine line to walk, though. The “your turn, my turn” offense can become dangerously predictable, and if opponents know they only have to slow down two players (not an easy task with these two), the attack may bog down.    

That probably doesn’t give enough credit to Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash and assistant Mike D’Antoni or supporting players like Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert, but we’ve seen plenty of playoff possessions reduced to one-on-one basketball.

The Lakers duo can do that and then some. There’s no debate that LeBron is the best passer of these four players. And in this late stage of his career, he’s started to rely even more on that skill. He averaged double figures in assists for the first time in his career in 2019-20. He can still manipulate and exploit a defense as well as any ball-handler. And his crosscourt passing may be matched only by Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.

His chemistry with Davis is almost palpable too.

Last season, those two were the top assist combo in the league, and the distance between them and No. 2 was the same as the distance between second and 36th. That connection remains strong this season, with kickouts, pick-and-rolls, post entries and more.

When compared to KD and Kyrie, they’re at a disadvantage as shooters, but their two-man game can bring more wrinkles. When you try to put everything together, these duos are remarkably close offensively.

Since the 2011-12 season, LeBron and Durant are tied for first in offensive box plus/minus (with Stephen Curry barely behind them). AD is ninth, while Irving is one-tenth of a point behind in 11th.

It may feel like a cop-out, but we’ll call it a tie on offense.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

It’s on the other end of the floor where the reigning champs gain some separation. The Lakers gave up a lot of points in their 138-115 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas. They weren’t any better in their opening-night loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. AD’s Defensive Player of the Year candidacy isn’t going anywhere, though.

After an offense-centric offseason, Davis’ responsibility on that end is even greater than it was in 2019-20. Marc Gasol is still a smart defender, but the 35-year-old big man is in the back end of his career and never made his money with top-end explosiveness. Davis will spend much more time as the defensive anchor, and his versatility allows him to play with either Gasol or Montrezl Harrell.

Davis can defend 4s and 5s. And though L.A. wouldn’t want him shuffling his feet along the perimeter for long stretches, he can be trusted after a switch for short bursts.

LeBron, meanwhile, is just days away from his 36th birthday, but he’s coming off a career-best mark in defensive rating swing (the Lakers allowed 8.7 fewer points per 100 possessions when he played in 2019-20).

Head coach Frank Vogel has total buy-in from the future Hall of Famer on that end, which makes it much more difficult for anyone else on the team to resist.

For Brooklyn’s duo, defense will likely never be its calling card. Durant has certainly had his moments, particularly during his first two seasons with the Warriors, but he’s 32 and coming off a torn Achilles. Yes, he looks great, but two games isn’t enough of a sample to bury the skepticism. We won’t know how he looks switching onto a guard 40 games into the season until it happens.

As for Kyrie, expect him to be targeted throughout the campaign. He’s playing hard on that end right now, but his immense offensive skill has never translated to a positive defensive impact.

Brooklyn has surrendered fewer than 100 points in each of its first two games, but those were against the Warriors (who’ve started this season in a fashion eerily similar to 2019-20) and a Boston Celtics team still adjusting to the absence of Kemba Walker (for now) and Gordon Hayward.

The Nets defense will face much tougher tests.

KD and Kyrie already look like a legitimate title-contending duo, though. Others—like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray and Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, just to name a few—will surely offer challenges during the season.

For now, though, the reigning champs remain atop the hill. Their offensive chemistry is only getting better, and their defensive ceiling offers plenty more headspace than Brooklyn’s.

Advanced stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass, PBP Stats and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.