Kevin Durant on Suns Trade: 'I Can See Myself Being Here for the Rest of My Career'

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant told Shlomo Sprung of Boardroom that he can see himself spending the rest of his NBA tenure with the Suns, who acquired the 13-time All-Star in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 9.

Sprung wrote:

"Asked if he envisions finishing his career in Phoenix, Durant said he couldn't tell the future, but said he feels like he can play the rest of his contract with the Suns—he's in the first year of a four-year, $196 million max deal—and then go from there."

"'I'm having a good time in the moment, and I can see myself being here for the rest of my career,' he said. 'But who knows? I said the same thing about Brooklyn.'"

Durant joins a Phoenix team with a new governor in billionaire mortgage lender CEO Mat Ishbia, who bought the Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury for $4 billion. It's an exciting time to be part of the Suns, who have a core four of KD, Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton that could lead this team to its first NBA title.

Durant is also impressed with the progression of the team since he joined the league in 2007:

"The organization has grown leaps and bounds in terms of its presence in the community, the brand of basketball they play, the people they hired to run the day-to-day. I felt that that stepped up from when I was first in the league. They also have some familiar faces that I know over here and worked with before, so I could tell what the structure was going to be like. I had an opportunity to make a move and I thought it was the right one."

One of those familiar faces is head coach Monty Williams, who served as the Oklahoma City Thunder's associate head coach in 2015-16, Durant's last year with the team.

Durant is working his way back from an isolated MCL sprain of his right knee that has kept him out since Jan. 8. He's participating in practice drills but has not taken part in three-on-three or five-on-five work. He expressed hope he'll be able to return soon.

The Suns' next game is Feb. 24 against the Oklahoma City Thunder at home.

As far as what will happen when he returns, Durant spoke about how he can mesh with Booker, the team's leading scorer:

"I can probably provide him a little bit more space than he's used to with my shooting ability. And I see a lot of games. He gets double-teamed a lot, especially off the small forward, which is the position I played. So, I can help provide him a little bit more space, which would make him even more efficient, and vice versa. I played against a lot of double teams as well with the Nets, so having another shooter out there at the wing position can help me, too."

Those two could form a deadly and dynamic duo after the Suns' weeklong break before returning for the second half of the season.