3 goals for the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant for the 2023-24 season

3 goals for the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant for the 2023-24 season.

3. Play in 60 regular season games.

The Suns didn’t invest in Durant to run him into the ground during the regular season, but they do need some consistent level of production from him in what will be a competitive Western Conference. He has not played in over 60 games since 2018-19, when he only missed four regular season games before then tearing his achilles in the NBA Finals.

Since then, 55 contests is the best he has been able to muster, and Durant could only manage eight games before the postseason began once he had come over to the Suns from the Nets. The 60 game goal then is not only to ensure the Suns enter next year’s playoffs in the best position possible, it is also a test to see where Durant’s body is at for the rest of his career.

There are those who believe his time at the very top is over, because his body no longer allows him to have an impact throughout a whole season, and then the playoffs as well. The injury history of players as tall as Durant would lend some validation to that argument, and the Suns need the player to rally against that way of thinking.

As much as Booker can carry the regular season load and Beal was brought in to help as well, the Suns still need Durant to be a top three player in the world once the postseason begins if they want to go on a real run. Unfortunately for the organization, in dealing away all of their depth to align these stars, they are not making things any easier on Durant’s body.

So the 60 game mark is necessary for another reason, and that is because the Suns will need him to defend at a reasonably high level throughout the season to pull out some close games. Deandre Ayton is still on this roster too, but if the Suns score 120 points per night, and give up 121 to a more well-rounded team, what was the point of all this? 60 games is the minimum requirement.