"No one has done it": Suns GM invites challenge to make Kevin Durant franchise centerpiece
The Phoenix Suns are still determined to build a winning team with Kevin Durant as the centerpiece moving forward.
Suns General Manager James Jones shared this as he faced the media after they were swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in their opening-round series of the 2024 NBA playoffs.
Jones said that as they head to the offseason, one of the things they are going to look into is trying to maximize Kevin Durant's presence on the team. The Phoenix executive highlighted that it was something they tried to do during the course of the season, but just could not get things together as hoped for varying reasons.
Jones went on to say that it was not only the Suns who had a hard time having "KD" as their true centerpiece as the other teams he played for also fell short on it.
He said:
"A constant for us is to continue how to figure out and maximize Kevin Durant. No one has done it yet. I believe we'll be the first team to do it. If we can miximize him, we can maximize our entire roster and we're a better team."
Sure enough, through the course of his stellar career, Kevin Durant never really had a team solely focused on him. While he was the best player in those teams, their offense never really settled with him as much as they wanted to.
While with the OKC Thunder, he played alongside Russell Westbrook and a young James Harden, who shared scoring chores with him.
Then when he moved to the Golden State Warriors, where he won his two NBA titles, he had to tweak his offense to work with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
Durant also found himself in the same predicament when he joined forces with Kyrie Irving and Harden with the Brooklyn Nets, needing to pull back in the scheme of things to allow his fellow All-Stars to shine.
Now with their planned approach of making their attack "KD-centric", it is going to be interesting to see how Phoenix will go about it, with certified bucket-getters Devin Booker and Bradley Beal still around.
Kevin Durant still had a solid season with Phoenix Suns
Kevin Durant's season with the Phoenix Suns ended in a first-round playoff sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves but it was still a solid campaign for him individually.
The star forward played in 75 games and posted averages of 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, five assists and 1.2 blocks in 37 minutes of play.
He was able to lead the team to a guaranteed playoff spot as the sixth-seeded squad while also earning another All-Star selection, the 14th in his career.
While his season ended on a sour note, Durant was still thankful that he was relatively healthy throughout this season.
He said in a report that came out on AZ Central:
"Had a couple of nagging injuries, but it was day-to-day type of stuff. I'm grateful for that."
Durant is set to see action for Team USA in the summer at the Olympic Games in Paris.