In defense of Suns optimism

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant rekindled something special in Paris. Maybe there's more here than we think.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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The Stages of Life; Caspar David Friedrich; 1835

The Team USA Olympic gold run in Paris was primarily all about the triumph of American elders, capped off with Stephen Curry’s incredible flurry of threes to seal the championship. If there’s a second key learning from the tournament from the American gaze, it might be that Kevin Durant and Devin Booker definitely have something. And that thought makes me wonder if the Phoenix Suns might have something.

Durant joined the Suns 1.5 seasons ago, and it’s widely considered to have been a failed experiment so far. I wonder if negativity around the Bradley Beal acquisition, the constant coaching changes and how overmatched Phoenix looked specifically against Minnesota this postseason has pushed the needle too far toward pessimism with this team. Booker’s pitch-perfect performance as a supplemental cog with Team USA and Durant’s star turn in a few moments provided ample reminder that these two dudes are excellent NBA players, top 15 without question and maybe higher on the right nights. And that alone can take you far in the NBA.

Remember the one playoff series this duo has won together? It came against the Clippers in 2023. Kawhi Leonard played the first two games (a 1-1 split) but Paul George couldn’t go. We view this series in retrospect largely for the Clippers’ perennial disappointment, another failed postseason eventually leading to PG’s exit. But, uh, despite the presence of stars on the other side, Devin Booker averaged 37 points in that series. Both he and KD (28 points per game) shot better than 45% from three. It was an offensive masterpiece for Phoenix, a blueprint of what potentially made them special together.