Dillon Brooks was the best player Suns got in Kevin Durant trade

The Phoenix Suns made some massive roster changes this offseason, and by now we all know how the Kevin Durant saga ended. The now 37-year-old ending up with the Houston Rockets, for a package that at the time felt underwhelming. Relative to what the Suns gave up to get him it was always going to be, and it wasn't helped by the overlap between Jalen Green and Devin Booker.

Both are shooting guards who do their best work off the ball, although at media day the pair of them also spoke about their willingness to be playmakers, as well as how much they were looking forward to playing with one another. Given Green is 23-years-old and the Suns are in a rebuilding phase you would think he was the best player that Phoenix got back for Durant. You would be wrong.

Arrival of Dillon Brooks changes everything in The Valley.

Instead it is Dillon Brooks who has quickly become the best player they received in the trade, although that definition does need some explanation. Green is without doubt the better offensive player, and he also has All-Star potential. If he winds up being as good as it is hoped he will be, then the Suns will have a long-term backcourt partner next to Booker.

But there's a reason the Rockets were so willing to give up on the former second overall pick, keeping better youngsters like Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson out of trade discussions. Brooks on the other hand is fully formed as a player, but already we can see that his arrival to Phoenix has changed the feel of the roster completely.

Intangibles are hard to accurately assess - it is a word stat heads would rather stay away from - but Brooks has already brought a whole lot of that. If you watched the preseason victory over the Los Angeles Lakers - and Deandre Ayton alone certainly gave you a reason to tune in - then you would have seen Brooks play with more effort than any Suns across the last two regular seasons.

The biggest complaint that The Valley had about their team when Durant and Bradley Beal were in town was how little they looked like they cared on a lot of nights. Tons of careless turnovers, not committing defensively and joking around on the bench when being blown out, it alienated the fanbase.

So although Green could end up being the guy who helps the Suns get back to contention in the future, Brooks is the guy who raises the floor - and the standards - right away. It took only one game to see what a positive impact that can have on Booker, who in the past loved playing alongside another guy who wants to win at all costs in Chris Paul. He has already changed the culture.