KD to the Suns

[starbosa10]

Worst trade of all time.
We won't recover from this EVER.

Blame ishiba for being too trigger happy. KD has honestly played pretty well and held up surprisingly well injury wise for the most part but the cost was too high (JJ clearly was balking at including Mikal before Ishiba got involved). Not to mention all the awful moves after it like losing Camara in the Ayton deal and trading for Beals NTC.

[lilfishi22]

Worst trade of all time.
We won't recover from this EVER.

Blame ishiba for being too trigger happy. KD has honestly played pretty well and held up surprisingly well injury wise for the most part but the cost was too high (JJ clearly was balking at including Mikal before Ishiba got involved). Not to mention all the awful moves after it like losing Camara in the Ayton deal and trading for Beals NTC.

That why I don't understand the blame on KD. Dude has been a better player than what you expect a 36-37 year old player to be. If you paid that much and we get a guy barely averaging 20ppg on OK efficiency then yeah that's well below expectation but 27ppg, 6rrp, almost 5apg and elite efficiency....that's what the league and fans should expect from KD and that's what we got.

If WE couldn't maximise that because we didn't play the right way or we didn't have the right group of players, that's on us.

[Revived]

To be fair to his critics, KD hasn’t really stepped up in many big games since the trade here. He did lot of his scoring in games when Suns were already down 15 or 20 pts and basically stat padding.

Also I didn’t realize how bad of ball handling he has till he came to the Suns. I said it in numerous gameday threads but I think KD has the worst handling among any perimeter oriented player on the top 30 all time players list.

I didn’t realize how easy it is to actually steal the ball from him for many NBA defenders. KD had so many high turnovers games in Phoenix and in many games the stat keepers didn’t even rightfully credit turnovers to him that were actually his fault.

Overall, after his 2.5 years in Phoenix, I have less of an opinion of Kevin Durant overall as a player and his legacy than I did prior to him joining the Suns. I see the complaints that Thunder fans (who infamously called him “Mr Unreliable” and Nets fans had of the guy. Only Warriors fans never really complained about him and that’s because he was on such a stacked team so he hardly any responsibility except just catching the ball wide open and shooting/scoring.

[ChuckS]

To be fair to his critics, KD hasn’t really stepped up in many big games since the trade here. He did lot of his scoring in games when Suns were already down 15 or 20 pts and basically stat padding.

Also I didn’t realize how bad of ball handling he has till he came to the Suns. I said it in numerous gameday threads but I think KD has the worst handling among any perimeter oriented player on the top 30 all time players list.

I didn’t realize how easy it is to actually steal the ball from him for many NBA defenders. KD had so many high turnovers games in Phoenix and in many games the stat keepers didn’t even rightfully credit turnovers to him that were actually his fault.

Overall, after his 2.5 years in Phoenix, I have less of an opinion of Kevin Durant overall as a player and his legacy than I did prior to him joining the Suns. I see the complaints that Thunder fans (who infamously called him “Mr Unreliable” and Nets fans had of the guy. Only Warriors fans never really complained about him and that’s because he was on such a stacked team so he hardly any responsibility except just catching the ball wide open and shooting/scoring.

I particularly disagree with your first paragraph and last sentence, but thought it best if I just post the following different opinion, which is closer to mine: It also contains a survey of Suns fans which found that 76% also rated KD an A, and 20% a B. So I felt less alone. I'll just quote the summary:

"So, what grade do I give him? An A. Kevin Durant is a phenomenal player on the court, there’s no question about that. Off the court? That’s a different conversation, but it’s not what we’re here to discuss.

The numbers tell the story. The Suns went 3–17 in the games Durant missed, reverting to a version of the team we haven’t seen since the 2018 Suns. When Durant wasn’t out there, the team’s flaws became glaring. If he’s going to depart, this organization needs to take a long, hard look at how to replace what he brings to the table, both in the clutch and as a primary scoring option. Replacing his impact won’t be easy, but it’s a reality they’ll need to face."

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2025/4/21/24409005/phoenix-suns-kevin-durant-season-review-2024-25-trade-rumors-impact-clutch-performance

I'll just elaborate briefly on turnovers which was a minor complaint even in that excellent article. I cannot speak to the top 30 players to which you refer, but two ratings I did find rated KD as 12th (ESPN) and 13th (The Athletic) of the all-time 76. Statmuse lists him as 17th all time for turnovers with a 3.2 pg. LeBron was at 3.5 and Magic 3.9. For perspective, he was only one tenth of a turnover behind greats like Bird and Dr J, and Suns favorite, Barkley. So yes some can be attributed to his 7' height, but IMO most to the doubles and traps all greats demand. Of course as with every player also some carelessness. I also think those high turnover games you remember, based on his per game average, were aberrations .

[AtheJ415]

To be fair to his critics, KD hasn’t really stepped up in many big games since the trade here. He did lot of his scoring in games when Suns were already down 15 or 20 pts and basically stat padding.

Also I didn’t realize how bad of ball handling he has till he came to the Suns. I said it in numerous gameday threads but I think KD has the worst handling among any perimeter oriented player on the top 30 all time players list.

I didn’t realize how easy it is to actually steal the ball from him for many NBA defenders. KD had so many high turnovers games in Phoenix and in many games the stat keepers didn’t even rightfully credit turnovers to him that were actually his fault.

Overall, after his 2.5 years in Phoenix, I have less of an opinion of Kevin Durant overall as a player and his legacy than I did prior to him joining the Suns. I see the complaints that Thunder fans (who infamously called him “Mr Unreliable” and Nets fans had of the guy. Only Warriors fans never really complained about him and that’s because he was on such a stacked team so he hardly any responsibility except just catching the ball wide open and shooting/scoring.

KD's attitude and refusal to be a leader were as big of problems as anything on this team.

[ChuckS]

It's hard to argue nebulous things like leadership and attitude. But it's impossible for me to believe KD was not the real leader of any team on which he has been. There is a hierarchy on teams which everyone (in spite of all the strong egos) involved knows except maybe a few seeking their 15 minutes of fame. As far as attitude, I think, as I wrote previously, that it is hypocritical to believe Kevin's is bad, or that of any alpha, for publicly responding to public attacks, or even benign comments with which he disagrees. Since detractors ignore the stats, I choose to believe those I regard as knowledgeable.

“Let’s see if Durant, the best man on the court, who shoots 5-for-5 on 3-pointers. He comes and puts a ball through your hoop. Whom are you guarding? Who are you guarding? You’re not guarding anyone else! No other player is of your concern! He is your only concern!

...“He is the one who will do the shooting. Who else? And he’s gets the ball as if… he is alone as a ghost.”

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10053107-klay-thompson-it-bothers-me-when-people-dont-talk-about-kevin-durants-greatness

On All The Smoke, Thompson said the three years Durant spent in the Bay Area were "special."

"That's why it bothers me when people don't talk about Kevin's greatness," Thompson said at the 1:03:40 mark. "This man averaged 35 and 15 in the Finals. ... That's like Shaq numbers. Like, what are we doing here? It's like, 'He's a bus rider' and all this stuff. You can't argue with the numbers. 35 and 15."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/vmum4a/draymond_green_we_would_not_have_beat_the_cavs/

JJ Redick: "Because you guys had won before, and now that you've won after, Kevin maybe doesn't get enough credit for 17 and 18, at least from my perspective and I want to get your opinion on that."

Draymond Green: "I don't think the outside world gave Kevin enough credit. I think if you came within our organization, Kevin was given all the credit. But the reality is, I don't think that team wins another championship if Kevin doesn't come. Now, you may say, 'Oh, yeah, but you won the fourth one without Kevin.' But there's a gap in there where teams started to figure us out."

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/steve-kerr-says-kevin-durant-is-more-gifted-than-michael-jordan-calls-him-an-entirely-different-breed/

"Kevin Durant's remarkable series against the Milwaukee Bucks has gone a long way in forcing the basketball world to finally acknowledge that he is the best player in the NBA. He may have lost, but in the end, he came only a few inches short of getting the Brooklyn Nets into the NBA Finals despite injuries to James Harden and Kyrie Irving. In the final three games of the series, Durant averaged 43 points, 12.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.

It was the sort of solo effort that drew comparisons to apex LeBron James. For years, Durant had been criticized for surrounding himself with some of the best rosters in NBA history, and that prevented many fans from ranking him ahead of James, who had on several occasions displayed the ability to carry weak rosters deep into the playoffs. Durant has now done the same, and with James aging, he is finally starting to get the recognition he deserves.

But his former head coach has taken things a step further. In an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area's Raj Mathai, Steve Kerr called Durant "the most talented basketball player on earth, if not of all time." That, obviously, raised some questions about his former teammate, Michael Jordan, who is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. When asked if he truly believed Durant was more talented than Jordan, Kerr confirmed it.

"I think he's more gifted, I really do," Kerr said. "That's saying something, but Kevin is a different ... entirely different breed. He's 6-11 with guard skills, unlimited 3-point range, passing, shot-blocking -- his shot-blocking at the rim, it's just stunning. Watching him this year was really, really gratifying to see."

It should be noted that Kerr is not claiming that Durant is a better or more accomplished player than Jordan, only that his natural gifts are greater."

https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/gregg-popovich-i-would-have-begged-cried-done-anything-to-get-kevin-durant-on-team-usa

If he said no, I would have begged, cried, done anything I could to change his mind. That’s pretty obvious. But what it says about him, number one, is that he loves the game. He really loves to play basketball. He loves to win. He loves the camaraderie. He wants to be part of this all the time, as we all know. And that’s his motivation. At the core, that’s what he loves to do. And luckily for all of us, that’s who he is. So it’s a testament to his character and just desire to be part of a team and have a challenge and seek the success.

"It’s surprising Durant is playing in the Olympics, given his health history. But he loves basketball.

Popovich clearly appreciates the attitude."


I apologize for my own repetition in responding to the repetitious.