DALLAS — Deandre Ayton couldn’t contain his excitement to share the court with Kevin Durant.
“I can’t stop talking about it,” Ayton said last week. “Still feel like I’m playing with the dude in 2K. Does he actually know that I play with him? I couldn’t wait to put him on my team. Now we’re actually on the front court together.”
Durant just smiled when hearing that story, but he can sense the hysteria and rise in energy surrounding the new-look Suns (35-29) with him on board.
“I feel like we all bring energy to the game,” he said. “I’m just another guy that’s bringing something different. I’m sure there’s some level of excitement because something new has come into the building, but I’m sure after a while, all that stuff will wear off and get back to normal.”
Hard to imagine anything ever being the same in Phoenix with Durant on the team.
Since the news broke in the midnight hour the Suns traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first round picks and a pick swap to Brooklyn T.J. Warren and Durant right before the Feb. 9 trade deadline, the excitement and expectations for the Suns has risen to astronomical levels.
‘KD! KD! KD!’
Thousands of fans attended his introductory press conference at Footprint Center and chanted “KD! KD! KD!” on multiple occasions.
The buildup for him to play increased each day he was ramping up to return from a right MCL sprain that kept him sidelined for nearly two months.
Then Charlotte became ground zero when Durant finally made his Suns debut Wednesday.
Lights. More cameras. More media at a Phoenix game in the Queen City than Monty Williams could ever recall.
“I mean, look,” said Williams as he pointed around the room. “We’ve played here before. It’s been me, a couple of other people and that’s it. The rest of you guys don’t follow us like this. Shame on ya’ll.”
Williams was joking, but even he admits there’s something different with Durant in the fold.
“You feel it at the hotel when there are people lined up outside,” he said. “You feel it in the gym.”
The Suns are 2-0 with Durant after handling Chicago by 21 points Friday as part of a four-game road trip that concludes Sunday at Dallas. Durant is averaging 21.5 points on a cooking 68% shooting (4-of-8 from 3), 7.5 rebounds, four assists and 1.5 blocks in his two games with his new team.
“He do a lot of things at like an extreme level, so well, so great,” Suns backup point guard Cameron Payne, who played his rookie season with Durant at Oklahoma City. “The blessing for him is that he can do it in any spot that we have.”
The Republic looks at how impactful and meaningful it is for the Suns to have Durant through the eyes of Williams and Durant’s new teammates.
“He’s a guy who loves the game,” said Suns guard Damion Lee, who was with Golden State in Durant’s last season with the Warriors in 2018-19. “Plays the game at a high level. One of the greatest to ever touch the basketball.”
‘It’s unheard of’
Durant and Williams have an instant connection being they’re both from Prince George’s County in Maryland.
Williams previously coached Durant as an assistant in Oklahoma City during the 2015-16 season before leaving after the passing of his wife, Ingrid, in a car accident Feb. 10, 2016.
“I spent every day with Kevin,” Williams said. “We talked a lot. Worked out a lot. He yelled at me a lot because I fouled him in the workouts, but I was just trying to figure out ways to help him develop.”
Williams noticed Durant’s immense talent, but he marveled at the work ethic.
“We’d have an 11 o’clock practice and he’d be in gym at sometimes 8:30, 9 o’clock on the floor ready to get his work in,” Williams continued. “Finish up his work, go shower, have breakfast and come back out and practice. It’s unheard of in today’s economy.”
Williams later coached Durant on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team that won gold in Rio. Durant led the team in scoring at 19.7 points a game, 3-point shooting (25-of-43) — and remained on his grind for excellence.
“Saw the same thing,” Williams said.
Nearly 10 years later, Williams has a chance to coach Durant again. He’s already seen Durant make a difference in the team dynamic with how hard he goes at it in practice.
“It’s been interesting to hear the comments from the different players and the different people in the gym when they see him go through his workout,” Williams said. “It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, and I think that’s had a huge impact on everyone in the building.”
‘So effortless’
Devin Booker is one of best scorers in the league, but even he is in awe at the way Durant gets buckets.
“Every time he shoots the ball, it’s just so effortless,” Booker said. “You can see defenders trying their hardest to contest or fight over a screen. He just looks unbothered, unphased.”
Williams and Durant have gone over plays ran for Durant from his previous stops to determine the best ways to utilize him in the offense.
“For me, I’m hopefully always learning about how to not just integrate one guy, but learning more about the game,” Williams said. “When I talk to him, it’s about experiences we’ve both had, about a game that I watched him play and I asked him about a certain situation.”
The Suns went to Durant in the midpost Friday, knowing the Bulls like to double him on the catch from his previous matchups against them while playing for Brooklyn. Prepared for the blitz, Durant and his teammates made Chicago pay for that strategy by getting open looks on the backside.
“On offense, when you get two on the ball, that’s really when your offense starts,” Durant said. “Being able to attract two guys and kickout and make plays for my teammates. I may not get the assists, but I got the ball rolling a little bit with that. We made the right plays out of that and we were able to get some offense through my post-ups.”
‘I’ll take that any day’
Landry Shamet saw that firsthand when he and Durant were teammates in Brooklyn in 2020-21.
“It’s hard to guard him 1-on-1,” Shamet said. “He’s a willing passer. Plays the game the right way. Guys are open, he’s going to find them.”
The next day, Durant and Booker, who also plays out of the midpost, were working on that after Saturday’s practice and either shooting it or kicking it out Payne or Chris Paul for 3.
“It’s part of who they are and you’re trying to space around those guys and make sure guys are ready for those organic opportunities,” Williams said.
Booker has also gotten open 3s playing with Durant in the halfcourt.
That hardly ever happens, but in the first half of Friday’s win, Paul was coming off a pick-and-roll with Ayton and had Durant on the wing and Booker in the corner.
With Durant drawing attention, Paul swung it over to Booker for an open corner 3.
Good.
“It’s not a bad feeling at all,” a grinning Booker said. “I’ll take that any day. Even in the postgame, a lot of people are saying we feel fresh. We play team basketball.”
‘Nobody can guard him 1-on-1’
Booker has had back-to-back 30-point game playing alongside Durant.
“Kev is someone I have high respect for,” said Booker, who won Olympic gold with Durant in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. “It’s one of those moments that doesn’t really feel real.”
As a tandem, Booker and Durant give Phoenix something that has proven effective come postseason time.
“They now have the No. 1 thing that you have to have to win close games in the playoff, they have two guys that can draw help without the aide of a pick-and-roll,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “You give Booker the ball, you have to help, you can’t guard him 1-on-1. You give Kevin the ball. Nobody can guard him 1-on-1. Nobody.”
Paul has known Durant since Durant was a five-star camper.
The two were teammates on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team that took home gold in London.
They’ve competed against each other for years, but Durant and Paul are now together to give Phoenix two of the best basketball minds to ever play the game.
“Both guys are incredibility detailed in terms of their routine and commitment and the things that go into winning,” said Bulls coach Billy Donovan, who coached Durant and Paul on separate occasions at Oklahoma City. “They’re as good as I’ve been around. They’re both high-level students of the game. Winning is a high priority for both of them.”
Donovan later talked about Paul and Durant getting more comfortable with each other to communicate freely. The two have already talked extensively leading up to Durant’s debut.
‘It’s going to get intense’
On that Wednesday night in Charlotte, there was an instance in which Durant pointed out something, Paul pointed somewhere else and the two nodded their heads in agreement.
Paul knows it won’t always go that smoothly between the two.
“This game is constantly changing,” Paul said. “It’s not always just so cut and dry. It’s a respect factor there. We respect the game, and we respect each other, and we respect each other’s knowledge of the game because we know how much each other is putting into the game. So, when we’re out there talking, I’m sure at some point, it’s going to get intense, but me and Book do it all the time.”
Paul and Durant were communicating even more Friday at Chicago.
“K was telling me, ‘C, be aggressive, C be aggressive,’” Paul said.
Paul finally took heed to that in the fourth quarter when going 3-of-4 from 3 in helping the Suns close out the Bulls, but he still adjusting to playing with Durant.
“This is all new for a lot of us,” Paul said. “Having that type of firepower on the offensive end. For me, always trying to get guys going, sometimes you forget to look for yourself, but it’s balance. I’m figuring it out. Never really been that open, but it’s different having KD there, Book there and J-O (Josh Okogie) shooting it the way that he’s shooting it. Just going to keep trying to build.”
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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