Chris Paul, Devin Booker Discuss Kevin Durant Trade, Injury Ahead Of Return to Suns
The Phoenix Suns haven't had much time with Kevin Durant on the court after trading for him in February, as knee and now ankle issues have limited the superstar to only three games with his new team, all of which have been wins.
Still, it has been obvious how dangerous the Suns will be when he's on the court.
"I mean, you're playing with me, [Devin Booker], [Deandre Ayton] and KD, (so) you get a lot more open shots than you'd ever thought, you know what I mean?" Chris Paul told Sam Amick of The Athletic. "That's a guy who commands a lot of attention. So the more games we get with him, we'll figure it out—figure out how to play, positioning, how to defend. I think everybody thinks about offensively what he brought, but he brought a lot to the defensive side."
Booker agreed.
"It's very exciting. A lot of space, a lot of opportunity," he noted. "The thing about Kev is that he's one of the best scorers—if not the best scorer—to ever play the game. But he still plays the right way. He makes teams pay for double teaming, and he'll get off it quick. We just hoop. We make reads. We make plays, and we start with a structure and our sets. He fits right into that and he knows what we're doing."
Still, the adversity of Durant's injury issues since the deal went down has forced the Suns to dig deep, as Booker noted:
"We're just taking it day by day, for real. Even before the trade, I missed some time (five weeks with a groin strain), Cam Johnson (who went to the Nets in the Durant deal) missed time, Chris (Paul) missed time (21 games in all). We were just finally about to start playing with each other, and then the trade happened. We got a few games in with Kev after he came back from his knee (injury), and now we're just taking it day by day. It's kind of hard to make an excuse, but I think it's building character for our team. We're being put in tough situations and having to figure it out."
Once Durant is back, though, the Suns will be formidable. Whether a few games in a portion of a season is enough time to come together as a unit and win a title remains to be seen. Building chemistry takes time.
But there aren't many teams thrilled at the prospect of having to face these Suns in the playoffs regardless. Phoenix has firepower few teams can match.
