Kevin Durant....Sonics Savior

 

Durant declared himself eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft on April 11, 2007 and signed his first professional contract on May 25 with the Upper Deck, Co., who later heralded Durant to be the focus of their 2007-08 NBA trading card line. Durant was also announced as the coverboy of the new NCAA March Madness 2008 video game by EA Sports.

On June 28, 2007, Durant was taken second overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. In the proceeding month, Durant went on to sign a seven year, $60 million endorsement deal with Nike - a rookie deal only surpassed by LeBron James' contract with Nike. In doing so, Durant reportedly turned down a potential $70 million contract with Adidas, opting for Nike since he had worn them all his life.

After playing only a handful of games in the NBA Summer League, Durant was chosen to trial for Team USA and participate in the State Farm USA basketball challenge, alongside NBA all-stars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard.Although Durant held his own in scoring 22 points for the Blue team in one game, he was ultimately dropped when the roster was trimmed to the twelve player limit.Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut.

On October 31, 2007, Durant made his NBA debut with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, 2007 Durant made his first game winning shot of his NBA career with a key 3-pointer to beat the Atlanta Hawks in double overtime. Durant finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. On November 30, 2007, Durant scored a career high 35 points to beat the Indiana Pacers.In a game against the Denver Nuggets, he flirted with a triple double as he came up with 37 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists. In the last game of his rookie season, Durant finally recorded his first double-double of his career with a career high 42 points, a career high 13 rebounds and also added 5 assists. In addition to leading all rookies in scoring for the season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Month for November, December (2007), January and March (2008). Durant's 20.3 point per game season average broke the SuperSonics 40-year old rookie record set by Bob Rule during the 1967-68 season.

On April 30, 2008, Associated Press reported that Durant was chosen to receive the NBA Rookie of the Year Award for the 2007-08 season.

 

With Kevin Durant's Developement the Future Looks Bright