Kevin Durant understands the pressure and the consequences if the Suns — with him, Devin Booker and recently acquired Bradley Beal — don’t win a title this season.
But the former Nets star, entering his first full season in Phoenix, said in a SiriusXM NBA Radio interview that he’s also interested to see how quickly the different pieces of their roster can start to mesh.
“Obviously if we don’t win a title we’ll get pounced on,” Durant said in an interview released Friday. “But for us … individually as players, you’re just looking to get better and do our jobs the best we can do.”
When the Suns acquired Durant from the Nets at the trade deadline last season — in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, four first-round draft picks, a draft pick swap in 2028 and Jae Crowder (who was later traded to the Bucks) — it stacked the Suns’ roster for a title run that fell short when they lost to the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals.
“Obviously if we don’t win the title we’ll get pounced on”
Kevin Durant talks about the expectations for the Suns this season.
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That prompted Phoenix to fire Monty Williams and hire Frank Vogel as its new head coach.
They also acquired Beal from the Wizards in June, parting with guard Chris Paul to spark a stretch of movement that ultimately ended with him joining the Warriors.
Durant dealt with injuries after arriving in Phoenix — missing time due to an ankle injury that was sustained in warmups leading up to his home debut with the Suns — and then they underperformed in their semifinals series against the eventual NBA championship, losing their four games to the Nuggets by an average of 17.25 points.
Kevin Durant (l.), Devin Booker (r.) and the Suns lost in the Western Conference semifinals last season.Getty Images
Still, the offseason transactions provided another opportunity for Durant to work with a Big 3, similar to his time with the Warriors (alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson) and the Nets alongside Kyrie Irving and James Harden, before Ben Simmons later arrived and replaced Harden.
The first situation led to two NBA titles.
The second one only resulted in the trio playing 16 games together before Harden requested a trade out of Brooklyn.
Their path through the Western Conference will be difficult against Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets and Curry’s Warriors, as well as LeBron James’ Lakers, but between Durant, Booker (27.8 points per game in 2022-23) and Beal (23.2 points per game), the Suns have situated themselves as contenders once again.
And even though that comes with expectations, Durant remains concerned about their incremental progress, too.
“I understand that’s part of expectations and the talent level that we have on our team,” Durant said in the radio interview. “But I don’t even look at it like that. It goes without saying I always feel like we should be winning every game and championship is always the goal, but I don’t even talk about it. I think the development of our team, and seeing where we are and … how quickly can we come together, I think that’s the most important thing.”
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