Kevin Durant takes responsibility for area Suns need to urgently fix

The Phoenix Suns have laboured to a 14-12 record as we approach a Christmas Day meeting with the Denver Nuggets, and the latest on Devin Booker and a potential groin issue certainly doesn't help matters. They do have Kevin Durant back though - and is so often the case when he returns from injury - the 36-year-old doesn't look like he has missed a beat.

The Suns might have come up short in their most recent game against the Indiana Pacers - a 120-111 loss at home - but Durant did all he could to help the cause in pouring in 37 points. It wasn't enough, but to be giving his team over 26 points a night while shooting over 41 percent from deep in year 17 is incredible work.

Durant has gotten real about one area he can improve though.

In what is the surest sign that Durant is a great leader no matter what team he is on, the two-time NBA Champion opened up on the turnover struggles of the organization this season. More specifically, the part he has played in the team being unable to take care of the basketball, which was a massive issue for them last season.

Durant is right to bring the issue of turnovers up - especially as he had five himself on the night - but he's being clever about the issue as well. Being willing to hold himself accountable as one of the 25 best players of all-time - at the very least - means his teammates have no excuse but to play to the same standards.

Looking deeper though, and do the Suns actually have that big of a turnover issue this season? It is certainly notable when it is bad, and again Durant is right to say that when the team takes care of the ball, is when they play some of their best stuff. But on the season as a whole to this point, the Suns have the ninth fewest turnovers per game, at 14 a night.

Compare that to last season, when they finished an awful 25th. They had no true point guard and it showed, with the introduction of first-quarter MVP Tyus Jones this season going some way to explain why the Suns have improved significantly in that area. And yet...

The team finished sixth worst in this category last season by coughing up the ball 14.9 times each night. In other words, less than one turnover better than they're performing right now. The only issue is the sample size is smaller, and many of those teams currently below the Suns won't be as bad as they are right now by season's end.

Durant certainly does have a point then, although it is hard to see how the team can fix it at this point. They went out and got not only Jones - but also Monte Morris this offseason - two of the best assist-to-turnover ratio floor generals in the history of the league. If that's not enough to dramatically improve a roster in that one area, then nothing is.

If the Suns could clean up this area however, there is no doubt there is an elite team within them still. This is still the group that started the season 8-1, and who have a chance to get back to that level again if they can get fully healthy. Taking care of the ball will come as a by-product of that - and as long as Durant continues to preach the seriousness of this issue - the Suns will be fine.