Kevin Durant is a grasp of disguise who’s already mixing in seamlessly with the Phoenix Suns. Not many groups can do the DMX Problem and current as many appears because the Suns can with their new wing roaming the ground. Most guys take a second to re-integrate into an offense or to heal from an MCL sprain or, y’know, a torn Achilles. Durant simply leaps again into his work uniform and acts like he’s at all times been there. The identical occurred in his debut as a member of the Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix couldn’t be extra completely different than Brooklyn, however that is the fourth time Durant’s moved round in his profession. He’s not wed to a metropolis, a coach, an offensive scheme, a fanbase, or perhaps a household. He’s the right famous person to stay the trucker life.
In his new NBA residence, the entire is larger than the sum of the elements. Durant makes all of it swell although. Thursday evening’s debut in a 105-91 victory over the Charlotte Hornets was a testomony to Durant’s versatility.
Chris Paul and Devin Booker needed to be strategic with their jabs earlier than, attacking the mid-range, probing the paint, working within the pick-and-roll, and preserving the gears greased on head coach Monty Williams’ offense. En path to a nimble 23 factors in 27 minutes, Durant demonstrated how his appreciable size and flexibility on each side ought to give the Suns a knockout punch they’ve been lacking.
Since 2020, Phoenix has countered the pattern in the direction of 4-out offenses that relied too closely on the 3-point capturing by changing into the NBA’s greatest mid-range capturing staff and deploying a real huge. Durant is the king of the mid-range within the modern NBA. This season, he’s second league-wide in mid-range makes an attempt, and first in effectivity over his closest friends by roughly seven share factors.
For years, Paul was essentially the most prolific mid-range scoring level guard within the league, Booker has turn out to be elite from that area between the paint and arc in his personal proper, subsequently the Suns will play these strengths. There have been 18 groups in motion Wednesday evening and Durant tried extra mid-range jumpers than anybody in The Affiliation. Booker tried the third-most. That small pattern dimension is what we must always count on to see for the rest of their season.
Durant? In a team-based offense?
The transfer to Phoenix additionally means the top of his delinquent offensive tendencies. Solely the Spurs and Warriors ran isolations much less regularly than Phoenix did this season. In the meantime, Durant has grown accustomed to one of many NBA’s most iso-heavy offenses with the Nets. As an alternative, Phoenix will lean into getting Durant higher area for his pull-up jumper and, sometimes, step apart for him to take some mismatched defender’s soul.
The division of labor shall be extra equally spaced out. Watching Paul set the menu as Durant and Booker cook dinner is a sight to see after years of watching KD make water and cereal in Brooklyn. Paul disappeared into the foreground on Wednesday evening, scoring solely two factors, however dished 11 assists.
Defensively, Durant’s size gave the Hornets matches in stretches. Because the secondary rim supporter, Durant’s presence allowed Monty Williams to have Deandre Ayton play extra aggressively on pick-and-rolls. On two separate possessions, Durant reached as much as contest Charlotte heart Mark Williams and his 7-foot-7 wingspan with out Ayton there in assist, together with one sequence by which Booker leaked out on the quick break, then lobbed a skip cross to Durant on the left wing. Durant rose up and located the underside of the internet from distance.
Durant and Paul aren’t going to be greatest mates off the court docket on the extent he and Kyrie Irving had been, however they’ll be higher colleagues. Whereas Durant and Paul ran pick-and-rolls on one aspect of the ground, teammates on the weak aspect didn’t simply gawk. On a number of events, Booker ran off of a number of screens and wasn’t even the secondary point of interest of the protection in these minutes if Durant was working some motion on the opposite aspect of the court docket. Nonetheless, that also freed him for simpler buckets.
With Durant out, Booker ordered takeout, mincing the Hornets for 37 factors on 15-of-26 capturing and producing seven assists of his personal. Booker and his PNR accomplice Ayton received busy as nicely. It’s going to be maddening defending them and simply as powerful to discover a mismatch on switches to benefit from.
Staggering Booker and Durant’s minutes is the place the Suns discovered their candy sauce. Durant began working with the reserves for many of his shifts and by no means regarded again, incomes a plus-13 plus-minus.
Granted, Durant received to settle in towards a Hornets staff down LaMelo Ball and disarming for the upcoming draft lottery’s Wemby Wars. Nonetheless, they clearly discovered a synergy that Luka and Kyrie haven’t been capable of unlock in Dallas. Very quickly in any respect, the Suns ought to start recapturing the eye economic system and resemble the juggernaut that had the NBA’s greatest document a yr in the past.
