The Phoenix Suns are going to enter this season with two of the top 15 players in the entire league in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. The Suns don't need to worry about Booker, as long as he remains healthy he looks like he has another level he can get to.
His experience with Team USA this summer will have also done him the world of good, and his approval rating could not be higher throughout the league right now. He kept Jayson Tatum off the floor for his country, and his "I'll Do It" mentality ensured he was perhaps the best fourth or fifth guy we've ever seen on a basketball court.
One media member incredibly thinks this season is it for Durant though.
Speaking with Zach Lowe on his podcast on The Ringer recently, Bill Simmons mentioned that this could be the last time we ever look at Durant as a truly elite player in the NBA. "I feel like this is it for him (Durant), as an elite guy on a good team. Just the age he's at, with some of the injury history he's had." Durant will be 36-years-old before next season begins, but is that an overly negative outlook?
On the one hand Simmons is right, Durant has been around since the 2007 NBA Draft. For those old enough to remember, that was the year Spiderman 3 came out. Yes, as in the Tobey Maguire ones. It was also when Rihanna released Umbrella... feel old yet? You combine Father Time with the devastating injuries Durant has had, and this could well be his last season as a top 15 player.
But to watch him play is to see a guy who still looks like he has some miles left on the clock. If anything he needs to be told to slow down, having played the second most games of any Suns player last season (75), before going straight to the national team and winning a record fourth gold medal with Team USA.
Kevin Durant X Devin Booker = pregame workout. #Suns pic.twitter.com/yESH5AgX6h
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) April 8, 2023
There was some downtime after that, but already he's been back in the lab with youngster like Paolo Banchero, helping the next generation of ballers. When he was on the court last season, the Suns had an offensive rating of 118.1. Better than what they managed as a team (116.8), and a number that would have led the whole league.
In fact that number was the best Durant has managed offensively since 2021-22 - and although playing alongside Booker and even Bradley Beal surely played a part - it is telling that it was also his best output since landing in The Valley. That doesn't sound like the statistical resume of a player who is on the decline.
Durant was even active defensively to a level that he will never receive enough credit for, and when he was on the court the Suns were even better (113.3) than they ended up being for the season (113.7, 12th in the league). Yet more proof that the superstar is - if nothing else - still far from a negative on either end of the court.
Filling in as a center at times to unlock new lineups (such as the jumbo one featuring Jusuf Nurkic and Bol Bol) was also down to the versatility of Durant, while his 27.1 points was tied with Booker for most on the team. Finishing second in rebounds (6.6) and assists (5.0) yet more proof - if it was needed - that he is still operating at a level where he impacts every area of the game for his team.
Durant does have to begin to slow down at some stage, but it feels premature of Simmons to write him off after posting such a strong outing in 2023-24. That time is coming, but the smarter shout here is to believe he has a couple more All-Star appearances and one or two amazing playoff series in him first. Then we can entertain talks of him coming off the bench down the road.