Kevin Durant is now officially a member of the Houston Rockets, and Phoenix Suns fans are left wondering what exactly happened. Back in the 2022-23 season, Durant was brought in to play alongside Devin Booker, and the fanbase assumed a superteam had officially been formed. But what proceeded to play out over the course of the next two years was anything but a run of dominance.
There were certainly times where the pairing looked like it was going to work. Just a couple of short months after Durant arrived in Phoenix, the Suns took the eventual champion Denver Nuggets to six games, giving them arguably their toughest challenge in that playoff run. Things were looking bright.
Frankly, there was never any question that Booker and Durant were going to be a high-level duo. They are both able to score in isolation, shoot over the top, and bury teams from the mid-range. There were stretches where their offensive chemistry looked smooth and natural, and when things were clicking, it was easy to believe Phoenix had something sustainable. But the problem was that it never really lasted.
It was the summer of 2023 when the team went out and got Bradley Beal. From the outset, this was a problem. Sure, Beal added more scoring firepower, but it created an unmistakable overlap when it came to the team's roster construction. Phoenix's new trio didn't share the floor for as long as the fanbase hoped due to injury, and the Suns were sent home in a first round sweep in the playoffs.
The Durant-Booker era never lived up to expectations
Fast forward one more year, and Phoenix's lack of depth totally doomed them in 2024-25. With so much money committed to its stars, the Suns held the highest payroll in the association and were not able to commit much money to building out the bench and allowing for more depth. Of course, we all know that led to missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
For all the talk about building a juggernaut, Phoenix never even made it to a conference finals with Durant. There was always too much weight placed on the stars to carry the offense, and never enough structural support behind them. Injuries, roster imbalance, and questionable coaching decisions all played their part, but the bottom line is the results were never good enough.
Booker was the one constant. He showed up night in and night out, adapting his game to fit whoever was around him and continuing to improve as a scorer and playmaker. He is still the face of the franchise, and now he finds himself once again in the role he knows best — trying to lift Phoenix back to relevance without a co-star guaranteed to get him there.
The Durant era will be remembered as one of the most hyped stretches in Suns history, but also one of the most underwhelming. There was talent and expectations, but in the end, there was not enough winning to justify any of it.