Rockets beat reporter says what all Suns fans already knew about Kevin Durant

The Phoenix Suns have moved on quickly from the Kevin Durant era, and are now doing all they can to re-tool their roster around Devin Booker and his new contract extension. They have three incoming rookies - all thanks to the trade with the Houston Rockets that sent Durant to Texas - while Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks will bring a different dimension as well.

Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle was on hand as Rockets' General Manager Rafael Stone spoke to the media in the aftermath of the trade, and it was clear he felt the time was now for the franchise to go all-in and contend for a championship. According to Stone they were a "legitimate second seed" last season, which prompted the change in strategy.

Durant's offensively abilities all too familiar to Suns' fans.

Over the course of his time speaking, it became clear just how much Stone - and Rockets' head coach and friend of Durant Ime Udoka - valued the 37-year-old's scoring talents. Beginning with "he's Kevin Durant" and also dropping lines such as "offensively, he's still dynamic" and "he's a high volume scorer at that high level of efficiency", it is no wonder the Rockets wanted him so badly.

None of this is new to Suns fans, and in fact watching Durant routinely put up 25 a night was an absolute joy. It was everything else around having him on the roster that was the problem, from the way it was constructed as it plunged into the second apron, to having no viable centers which forced Durant to do more work defensively against opposing bigs than the Suns would have liked.

Although he never quite gelled with Devin Booker in the way it was hoped, individually he was everything he promised he would be for the Suns. Why it will be different with the Rockets is because they have a mixture of young players - such as the brilliant big man Alperen Sengun - plus a high-level point guard in Fred VanVleet to compliment Durant's talents.

So whereas the Suns traded away the farm - and in hindsight the soul of an NBA Finals group in Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson - the Rockets were able to get Durant at a reduced price and still keep their best players. They have their own, likely better version of Bridges in Amen Thompson, while Jabari Smith Jr. has shown steady improvement each year he has been in the league.

Houston is set up much better to absorb Durant and his offensive skills, and in the playoffs last year they needed a closer more than anybody else. The Suns had just that for two full seasons, and it didn't lead to a single playoff game won. All the isolation and midrange buckets Durant gets you - and he will rack up plenty - don't guarantee success either. That's something else Suns fans will tell you.