Noise of Durant leaving Suns gets deafening after 2 recent events

After Tuesday night's loss in Minnesota, the Phoenix Suns find themselves in an 0-2 hole and needing a serious change in energy for them to get back into this series against the Timberwolves. For a team that has been so up and down all season long with a lot of question marks and off-court storylines as well, a slow start to the playoffs has not done anything to alleviate the concerns many have with them.

Of course, one of the most significant and relevant storylines surrounding this team revolves around Kevin Durant. After joining the Suns at last year's trade deadline, many believed he would put Phoenix on the fast track to a championship. He has certainly elevated this group and helped them become one of the most dangerous offenses in the Western Conference, but the jury is still out on KD bringing the Suns a Larry O'Brien trophy.

When Phoenix brought in Bradley Beal last summer, it seemed to many outsiders that the team became too synonymous with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Beal all being similar players from an offensive standpoint. The inconsistencies we have seen on the court for the Suns this season represent in a lot of ways the skepticism we saw from around the league heading into the year.

The ongoing struggles in Phoenix naturally lead us to questions about this team's future. We have seen Durant desire a change of scenery several times over the course of his career, and there is no guarantee he will want to remain a Sun until retirement. In addition, a recent commercial may strengthen the argument that KD could be looking to skip town in the near future.

Signs are pointing to Kevin Durant leaving the Suns

Of course, after beginning his career and making a name for himself with the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise, it makes sense for Kevin to still have some sort of connection with the organization, even if fans still boo him when he returns to Paycom Center. So while it may not be a total shock to see him narrating a commercial featuring Chet Holmgren (and considering the ad is for his shoe), it also raises questions about where his head is at.

It is no secret that the Thunder are enjoying a time of unprecedented success. Rising from the ten seed in the West to the top seed this year, OKC has their best chance of returning to the NBA Finals since KD and Russell Westbrook were running the show. We know that Kevin Durant marches to the beat of his own drum, and he would not allow himself to be peer pressured into returning to the franchise that he left.

But with that in mind, it is certainly something he could be interested in pursuing on his own volition. After all, it is hard to look at what the Thunder are doing right now and not want to be a part of it. The vast majority of teams around the association would love to be in Oklahoma City's shoes right now.

Obviously, only Durant truly knows what his intentions are and what he would be open to. But the more we pay attention to the reality unfolding in front of us, the more it seems that him leaving Phoenix and returning to the Thunder could be a real possibility. Between his appearance on the Holmgren commercial and the Suns' worsening struggles, the noise of him returning to his old team will only continue to get louder.