Rockets' Kevin Durant Offers High Praise for Hawks' Guard

Kevin Durant is a basketball savant. He knows the game through and through.

Better yet, he's a historian. He's educated himself on the history of the league. And he studies players. He gives current players their flowers and just due. Just listen to him talk about the game on podcasts.

He's seen it all. Par for the course from being in the league for 19 years.

Most players' careers don't span that long. In fact, only three players from Durant’s 2007 draft class are still actively playing, aside from Durant.

Al Horford, Jeff Green -- Durant’s teammate on the Houston Rockets -- and Mike Conley.

But even with all of the time Durant has spent in the league, he was in awe on Monday night, upon seeing Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater during the Hawks contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant took to Twitter to marvel at the shot.

"Wow I can’t believe he even thought to use the left…bold enough to act on that thought, hold the follow through and then swish it. My god, one of those god like moments I be talkin bout."

The Hawks lost the contest to the Oklahoma City Thunder, nonetheless, by a score of 140-129.

Alexander-Walker had a team-best 30 points on 24 shots (11-of-24) and 6-of-14 from long-range.

The Hawks entered the season with a litany of hype, due to their offseason activity, which included acquired Alexander-Walker and NBA champion Kristaps Porzingis.

However, they've gone 15-19, good for 10th place in the Eastern Conference. A big attributing factor has been injuries, as All-Star point guard Trae Young has missed 24 games.

Ditto for Porzingis, who has developed a knack for being injury prone.

The latest talk among league circles is that the Hawks are interested in potentially acquiring Anthony Davis and would even be willing to part with the aforementioned Young, as they've realized the star-level potential of Jalen Johnson, who is averaging 23.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 52.2 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from long distance range and 61.8 percent true shooting.

Entering the season, the Rockets were theorized as a potential trade destination for Young, who the Hawks failed to reach a long- term extension with in the offseason.

However, the Rockets aren't expected to be active on the trade market, and certainly not for a big-name higher profile player like Young.