Kevin Durant suffered yet another disappointing exit in the playoffs as the Phoenix Suns were swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The veteran tried his best to keep his team in the series, he dropped 33 points in Game 4 on a highly efficient 70.6% shooting from the field. Despite his efforts, the Timberwolves prevailed, courtesy of Anthony Edwards’ brilliance as he dropped 40 points to help them get over the line.
The Phoenix Suns never looked like they would be able to make their way back into the series. Aside from Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, no one on the roster contributed actively. Bradley Beal, who was added with the expectation of being their third star, only managed to average 16.5 PPG. The team were without Grayson Allen for Game 4 and in his absence, no player from the rotation stepped up to help the Suns avoid a 4-0 defeat in the series.
Kevin Durant has now been with the Suns for one and a half season. He has been given enough firepower to lead them in the playoffs, but the two-time NBA champion has failed to help the franchise make a deep playoff run.
Last season, the Suns were able to get beyond the finish in the first round, but were demolished in the second by the defending champions – Denver Nuggets. This year, they were expected to make a championship run as the franchise added some key pieces in the offseason. However, their acquisitions have miserably failed and it has once again proven that superteams do not guarantee a championship.
Kevin Durant has not had a great playoff run in the last few years
Kevin Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns during last year’s trade deadline. He was excited to play alongside Devin Booker and Chris Paul, but this experiment was not going to succeed as the Suns let go of a lot of their talent to bring KD to Phoenix. Last season’s playoff exit led to a lot of big moves in the offseason for the Suns. The first let go of Chris Paul and brought Bradley Beal as part of a three-team trade.
The next move was to trade Deandre Ayton, the Suns were able to bring in Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen by trading Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers. They still had some room on the roster and were looking for free agents in the offseason. However, their cap space was limited due to the presence of KD, Booker and Bradley Beal.
An argument could be made that Durant did not have the best team to compete against the Timberwolves, but it was he who wanted to leave the Brooklyn Nets to be in a better position to win a championship. Since winning his last championship in 2018, KD has not made it to the Conference Finals even once. During this time, he has been swept twice in the first round, which indicates how much he has struggled since leaving the Warriors.
Kevin Durant’s success in the Playoffs has only been with the Warriors
Undoubtedly, the Golden State Warriors team with KD in it was one of the best teams in the NBA. In his three years at Golden State, the veteran made a great impact and led them to three straight Finals. Even with Steph Curry on the roster, it was Durant who was given the Finals MVP for two straight seasons in 2017 and 2018. Many have come ahead and said that the franchise would not have won those championships without KD, but time has proven otherwise.
The 35-year-old has a stacked resume, but aside from winning those championships in Golden State, he hasn’t done anything significant in the postseason for a few years now. There are reports that he is not happy with the situation in Phoenix, the trend is that he usually switches teams after a bad postseason run, but considering his age and stability issues, it will be interesting to see if any team comes out for him.
