Kevin Durant's new role for Team USA should intrigue Suns

With the Olympic Games in Paris now in full swing, Team USA once again look well on their way to winning another gold medal. That uncharacteristic 101-100 win over South Sudan in exhibition play now a distant memory.

Of the Phoenix Suns' involvement with the group, Devin Booker looks like he's having a lot of fun over there. He's starting games one one of the best squads ever assembled - and when he's not on the court - he's handing out pairs of his signature shoes around Paris.

But it is how Team USA is using Kevin Durant that should interest the Suns the most ahead of the new season.

That's because in both wins so far - over South Sudan and Serbia - Durant has come off the bench for this squad. That's not to say he'll do the same once he's back in Phoenix - he was arguably their best and most consistent player at 35-years-old last season, but it does open up interesting avenues to explore.

The impact Durant had off the bench against Serbia especially was fantastic, notching a team-high 23 points in only 17 minutes of action. Against South Sudan that number dropped to 14, but what was notable about that game was that Durant's 22 minutes off the bench was the joint most played by any Team USA player on the night.

Durant isn't going to come off the bench for the Suns, but the introduction of Tyus Jones changes things in The Valley. A starting five of Jones - who has said he was told he'd get a chance to start - Booker, Durant, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic is going to get smoked on the defensive end.

Having one of Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale or Josh Okogie helps some, but not enough to get excited about. But what Durant coming off the bench is doing for Team USA - much to the delighted of Anthony Edwards - is giving them perhaps the greatest impact substitute offensively in the history of basketball.

That might seem like hyperbole, but consider how good Durant still is on that end of the court. But how does that translate to the Suns? Well if Durant isn't going to come off the bench, it at least shows he can prop up some bench minutes with elite scoring. Next to Monte Morris and one of O'Neale or Allen for example, there is an opportunity to be more competitive on the defensive end.

This would also take some of the pressure off Beal to once again change his role in Phoenix. Already in 12 months he's been asked to be a point guard, to now going back to being an elite scorer, to possibly coming off the bench. It is easier to sell him on all of this chopping and changing, if Durant spends some time with that second unit as well.

Again this isn't a plea for Durant to accept that Father Time is undefeated, and that he should get ahead of a change in his role down the line. But saving his body for the postseason makes the most sense, and so starting games but dropping to the bench in the first-quarter, before returning with mostly bench players is something to think about.

The Team USA bench is among the best ever, so it wouldn't be exactly the same. But if the Suns could perhaps swing a trade for a more defensive-minded forward - swapping out one of the aforementioned O'Neale, Allen or Okogie in the process - then the construction of this roster would make more sense.

Imagine Jones, Booker and Beal causing havoc, with another stopper out there to shut down opponents. Then when Beal, Booker or both go to the bench, Durant could do what he did against Serbia and come in and burn everything to the ground with his scoring.