Though there are some who question if Kevin Durant is shooting enough, the Houston Rockets have cracked a code the Phoenix Suns were never able to. Houston is still featuring Durant in a prominent role on both ends of the floor, but has surrounded him with talent and a system that allow him to pace himself through regular season games.
Unfortunately, the Suns' strategy wasn't quite as friendly, as they positioned Durant to carry an unsustainable work load on both ends of the floor. Though Houston did the same in 2025-26, they've done what Phoenix refused to: Learned from their mistakes.
Phoenix positioned itself to face an uphill battle to winning with Durant by building around three highly-paid perimeter stars: Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Durant. With limited financial flexibility and only so many shots to go around, sacrifices inevitably needed to be made.
It didn't help that injuries reared their head for all three players, but even when everyone was healthy, Durant was asked to score with elite volume and effectively anchor the defense.
Houston has taken an entirely different approach in 2026-27. Thus far, Durant is averaging 20.8 points and 12.4 field goal attempts per game—by far the lowest marks of his career. He averaged no fewer than 26.6 points or 18.1 field goal attempts per contest during his two full seasons in Phoenix.
Compounded by the fact that Durant is playing 33.6 minutes per game compared to 37.2 and 36.5 during his two full seasons with the Suns, this has been a drastically different experience for him.
Rockets are pacing Kevin Durant, whereas Suns made him go all-out
The desire likely exists to play Durant as many minutes as possible. He is, after all, an MVP, two-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, four-time scoring champion, and 12-time All-NBA honoree who earned All-NBA Second Team honors as recently as last season.
The harsh reality of winning with Durant, however, is that he's 38 years of age and on the other side of both a Jones fracture and a torn Achilles tendon.
Yes, Durant was younger in Phoenix, but not by much. He played his first full season with the Suns at 35 years of age. Furthermore, he'd been battling injuries that forced him to miss 27 or more games in each of the four previous seasons.
Even still, the Suns played Durant in excess of 36 minutes per game during both of his full seasons with the franchise—and didn't exactly give him a role that would conserve his energy.
Durant—and not prime-age Booker—led the Suns in minutes per game in 2023-24. The two flipped said distinction in 2024-25, but Durant still played 36.5 minutes per contest at 36 years of age. During that time, he was asked to be an elite volume scorer, a featured playmaker, and one of the few active defenders on the roster.
The result was Durant overextending himself, the Suns never truly building a balanced team around him and Booker, and a promising chapter ending without much to show for it. Thankfully for Durant, the Rockets seem to have learned from the mistake they made by attempting a similar approach in 2025-26.
It's still early, but the Rockets appear to be pacing Durant through the regular season and limiting wear-and-tear as much as they can afford to. If only the Suns had done the same.
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