Kevin Durant made his debut for the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. Phoenix acquired Durant ahead of the NBA trade deadline from the Brooklyn Nets in an overnight swap that immediately positioned the team to be one of the favorites to win the Western Conference and compete for a title.
It was the second gigantic move the Nets pulled that week in response to a player wanting a change in scenery, as the team sent Kyrie Irving to Dallas on the heels of a trade request. But despite that, Durant could have decided to stay in Brooklyn and, once he got healthy, play in a familiar place. That didn’t happen, and now, he’s in Phoenix.
Prior to his debut, Durant sat down with Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo and laid out why he felt he needed to go somewhere new. As he tells it, while he was used to playing in Brooklyn, the sheer amount of roster turnover was a concern.
“I was thinking about who’s in the building, then when s*** started happening. We’re not playing well. KI requested a trade. It felt like a lot of s*** wasn’t happening for us. But I was locked in. I felt like my play showed people that I was really committed to the organization.
“I looked up, like what am I gonna do? I don’t know who’s gonna be my teammates, so I was a little nervous with that happening. And we were able to work something out.”
Durant’s debut with the Suns went rather well, as the team picked up a 105-91 win over the Hornets in Charlotte. Durant scored 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting in 27 minutes of work.
