10 Players That Were Called "The Next Kevin Durant"

This kid right here is the next Kevin Durant. That is something that has been said far too often. Time and time again, over the last decade, high school kids have been called the next KD. It seems like there's one almost every year. Any guy that is above 6'9", with a skinny frame, some handles, and any semblance of a jump shot is deemed the next KD. This is somehow one of the most commonly used NBA comps, despite KD being one of the most uniquely talented players in the history of the game. I mean, KD is truly one of a kind. He's not just a good ball handler, he's one of the best ball handlers in the league. He's not just a decent shooter, he's one of the best shooters of all time, with an unstoppable midrange game. Kevin Durant comps have never, not once, ended up being accurate, and I don't think they ever will. Well, maybe. So I thought it would be fun to look back on every single player that has been called the next Kevin Durant over the past decade, and take a look at where they are now. So here are 10 players that were called the next KD, starting with three guys that made absolutely no sense. The first one might be the worst to look back on in terms of play style, Kevon Looney. Kevon Looney was called the next KD by Ball is Life, City League Hoops TV, and in many other YouTube videos. Looney was a 6'8 forward from Milwaukee who simply dominated in high school. He had some solid handles and hit pull-up jumpers. So yeah, he did have some impressive skills for his size. He was ranked number 12 in the class of 2014 and went on to play at UCLA, but he ended up taking on a very different role once he made it to the NBA. Looney is now going into his 8th NBA season with the Warriors, and has carved out an important role as a defensive-minded center. He does not do any of the KD-like things he flashed in high school. In fact, he's only made 10 three-pointers in his entire NBA career. Next up, we got Sekou Ndombuya. Ndombuya was called the next KD by Overtime in 2019 when he was an upcoming NBA draft prospect coming out of France. So the biggest thing that most of these guys are missing is self-creation, which Kevin Durant happens to be the greatest of all time at. Yes, Sekou Ndombuya was a tall wing with the ability to put the ball on the floor and knock down some corner threes, but that's why you compare him to somebody like OG Ananobi, not Kevin Durant. Sekou was taken 15th overall in the 2019 draft by the Pistons, but never panned out. He's now a free agent with a season about to start, and he's still just 21 years old. Next up, we got another guy whose game does not seem to resemble KD at all, Precious Achua. This is becoming a common theme. Precious, like Kevon Looney, is more of a big man who does a lot of the dirty work in the NBA. He was a 6'9'' wing in high school with some pretty impressive handles. I actually really like Precious's potential, though. He's now entering his third NBA season, and some of the handle stuff that we saw in high school is starting to show in some of the preseason action. Nowhere near KD, though. Okay, so those first three guys were some of the weirdest ones I found, but these next two, I guess, made a little bit more sense. Bol Bol. He was the son of Manute Bol and was one of the most hyped up prospects in recent memory. He was a 7'2'' forward that could dribble, pass, and shoot from deep that was ranked number four in the country by ESPN. He also had that skinny frame, just like KD. Bol Bol also dominated in his first few games of college as a freshman at Oregon, averaging 21 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks per game. The hype looked real, but he then suffered an injury in his left foot and missed the rest of that college season. And that has been the story of his career ever since. He fell in the draft to 44th overall and has dealt with injuries his whole career. Bol Bol was just never KD. Again, the self-creation for Bol Bol was just not there. KD moves differently than any other guy that size. Except maybe... Anyways, let's move on to a similar one. Chet Holmgren. Chet is skinny. He can dribble. He can pass. And he can shoot. He was an elite prospect in high school and is still an elite prospect heading into the NBA. Now, like Bol Bol, he got injured. But let's not focus on that right now. I believe Chet will be an NBA all-star. But again, the comparison never made any sense. Chet's most elite skill is his shot block. As smooth as Chet is, he still doesn't move or self-create like Kevin Wayne Durant. Okay, we're finally moving into the portion of this video where the comps start to make a little more sense. These next five guys are probably the closest thing we've seen to a KD-like high school player. But as you'll see, four of them still never came even close. Jaden McDaniels. As many of you may know, I am a huge Timberlakes fan. And I absolutely love the career story of Jaden McDaniels. In high school, he was a KD-like player. Like I said, this comp made a little bit more sense. He was about the same height at 6'10". He had the same frame. He showed flashes of self-creation. And he moved very, very well. Many people forget how highly rated of a recruit Jaden McDaniels was coming out of Seattle, Washington. ESPN had him 7th in their rankings. But take a look at this. This is super interesting. ESPN's first 2020 NBA Mock Draft had Jaden McDaniels as the projected first overall pick. With Anthony Edwards at number 2 and LaMelo Ball at number 33. While Jaden ended up having a disappointing freshman season at Washington and fell to the Wolves at the end of the first round. Jaden did something that not a lot of former ball-dominant, highly rated high school kids have done. He embraced being an exceptional role player in the NBA. And he's used his physical gifts to become an elite defender. He's now a 21-year-old that will be starting on a team that could win 50-plus games this year. So no, he won't become KD. But I love the way his career is shaping up. Next up is Jonathan Isaac. Very similar in high school and in the pros as Jaden McDaniels. Isaac is actually someone Jaden has been compared to a lot since joining the league. Isaac did all those KD-like things in high school. But there's just not many players in the world that can create at that level once they make it to the league. Isaac has proven to be a very good player in the NBA. A few years ago, he was considered to be one of the best young defenders in the league and a potential future defensive player of the year. But in August of 2020, he suffered an ACL tear in the NBA bubble and we have not seen him back on the court since. Next up, we got Michael Porter Jr. Now we're getting closer to some real KD-like players. MPJ was that guy in high school. Second highest rated recruit, projected number one overall pick in the draft, 6'10", can shoot the lights out, create his own shot, just smooth as butter. Like Durant. There were injury concerns with MPJ though, like a lot of these tall skinny guys. He fell to the Denver Nuggets at the end of the lottery in 2018. He missed his entire rookie year with a back injury and missed all of last season when he got his third back surgery. But when he has played, he's been uber efficient. He showed enough in two seasons to lock up a five-year max contract with the Nuggets. Now again, he's no KD, but I'm not mad at this comp because he can really shoot the lights out and create his own shot at 6'10". Better than anyone else I've previously mentioned in this video. Okay, this is when things get weird. This player's gotten more Kevin Durant comparisons than anyone else on this entire list. Imani Bates. Imani Bates was first called the next Kevin Durant at the age of 12 and he did honestly look more like Kevin Durant in high school than anyone else I've ever seen. He didn't quite have the height, but the smooth pull-up mid-range game, knockdown threes, and just overall ability to handle the rock were all there. He had the basketball world convinced he would be the next chosen one. I mean, look at this Sports Illustrated cover from when he was just 15 years old. But after Imani reclassified and joined the University of Memphis one year early, things started to go downhill. He didn't perform very well when he was on the court. He left the team at one point and then he transferred out of Memphis after the season to join Eastern Michigan. A dramatic downward spiral for a guy a lot of people were convinced would be the next KD. But personally, I haven't completely given up on Imani. He didn't have all that hype for absolutely no reason and he is still very young. Alright, one last guy and this is the one that became the most accurate. An NBA All-Star caliber player that plays a lot like KD. Brandon Ingram. Ingram showed all of those similar flashes in high school. Shot creation with his tall and skinny frame. He then went to Duke and that continued. He was drafted second overall by the Lakers and after some early struggles, he improved year after year. He won the most improved player award in 2020 and is now one of the best isolation scorers in the NBA. He's obviously not as good as Durant, but I think he's the closest thing to him in the league today. While guys like Kavon Looney and Precious Achua being compared to KD made no sense at all, this one always did. But I think the moral of this entire video is this. Maybe moving forward, we shouldn't compare every 6'9 skinny kid with a jumper to Kevin Durant. And that's gonna do it for today's video. If you enjoyed this one, I highly recommend checking out our recent video where we break down whether or not Bronny James is good enough for the NBA. We're dropping multiple videos like this every single week now, so make sure you smash that subscribe button and turn on post notifications. As always, thank you so much for the support and we'll see you in the next one.