Sonics plan to start Durant at shooting guard

SEATTLE – Kevin Durant grabbed outlet passes. He stepped out and fed post players who were running down the middle of the floor.

When he did go inside, he soared to the baseline for a rebound over Wally Szczerbiak, the veteran small forward who at 6-foot-7 is 2 inches shorter but far more bulky than the teenager with the body of a greyhound.

“Way to go, KD!” an assistant coach yelled, proving Durant had an NBA nickname even before his first practice with the Seattle SuperSonics on Tuesday.

The one time he was in the middle during a fast-break drill that ended the 90-minute session, Durant rose above the rim with both hands clutching the ball. Yet instead of dunking, he simply and smoothly dropped the ball through the hoop.

The second overall pick in June’s draft was on the outside looking in during the first practice of his NBA life. He was a shooting guard.

It seemed to fit.

“It’s the same system we ran at Texas, so I’m comfortable in it,” Durant said.

For now, he’s in the same “2” spot that All-Star Ray Allen held in Seattle from 2003 until he was traded to Boston for Szczerbiak, Delonte West and fifth overall choice Jeff Green, moments after the Sonics drafted Durant.

“In my opinion, that’s where he’s best suited right now,” said new Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, who ran his first practice as an NBA head man since Golden State fired him in 1999. “Because of the way he shoots the ball, the way he handles the ball, and the fact that he is not as physical right now as he’s going to be before he’s done.

“He’s like – he’s not like Magic Johnson at all – but he’s like Magic in that you can play him probably any of four positions, if not five. Playing the 2, he’s not going to get beat up, box to box, the whole game.”

The other conclusion from Seattle’s first practice, a month before the season gets real at Denver for a team that finished 31-51 last season: Forget that he was running with the second team. Durant will be starting from Game 1.