Kevin Durant’s calf strain halts Suns’ tremendous progress to begin season

You can never go too long in a NBA season without taking a swift strike right on the chin from adversity and that’s what the 8-1 Phoenix Suns will have to do while Kevin Durant is sidelined by a left calf strain for two weeks.

Durant led the charge nine games in, averaging 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 55.3% from the field. With a below average start from Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal contributing in more of a do-it-all role, Durant’s usual offensive brilliance was a lot more required. On top of that, he was putting together his best defensive season since he was in Brooklyn.

That level of two-way play combined with 35 points in clutch minutes put him up there with anyone two-and-a-half weeks into the season, pacing him for MVP consideration.

This is the same calf Durant strained over the summer prior to playing for Team USA in the Paris Olympics, which makes it the second time he’s suffered a left calf strain in roughly five months. Conversations will rightfully revolve around the 36-year-old Durant sitting second league-wide in minutes per game at 38.8, second to Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, who injured his right hamstring on Monday.

Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer was asked prior to Wednesday’s victory on his thinking behind the high allotment, if it was something he planned to do all year or it was more of a decision based around building more continuity earlier in the season. He described the process as a work in progress.

“Kevin probably wants to play every minute, so that’s my problem. He doesn’t seem to be very happy when he comes out ever,” the coach said jokingly (but probably not jokingly). “And I would love to keep his minutes maybe down a bit, so usually there’s some happy medium and we try and find that spot. And he wants to win and we want to win. But him feeling good and healthy and maintaining him for the whole schedule, it’s a great kind of balancing act that I would say is still a work in progress.”

Budenholzer is notorious for keeping minutes low. Over 10 combined seasons in Atlanta and Milwaukee, no player under Budenholzer ever reached 35 minutes per game. Booker at 36.6 minutes a night is also north of that this season and Beal sits at exactly 35 MPG.

Phoenix has been able to tie the best start in franchise history thanks to Durant and an innate ability to get a significant lift from its supporting cast. The latter will be vital while Durant is out.

Without Durant, the Suns are down their only wing with high-end size, making it a difficult decision as to who replaces him in the starting lineup. Rookie Ryan Dunn is the best bet, as he’s already started twice in place of Beal and performed well. His value as a spacer shooting 13-for-33 (39.4%) from deep becomes even more important in that role.

Next up would presumably be Royce O’Neale and his minutes will go up regardless. He, however, has been tremendous off the bench and should firmly be in the running for Sixth Man of the Year if he keeps it up.

Dunn replacing Beal was a nod from Budenholzer on the importance of O’Neale coming off the bench. While that would make Phoenix a terribly small opening lineup, O’Neale will bang down low. With that said, on the schedule across Durant’s timeline is Utah with Lauri Markkanen and new Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Julius Randle.

Despite Durant undeniably being Phoenix’s best player this year, it is outscoring teams by 4.6 points per 100 possessions when he has been resting, per NBA Stats. That is one of the better numbers on the roster, a testament to the Suns’ depth this year.

Durant’s absence will increase the need for more size in the rotation, which is where Budenholzer could look toward either rookie Oso Ighodaro used in double-big lineups or fan favorite Bol Bol. Bol was a great injection of energy in the second half of last season, prone to making mistakes defensively while usually making up for them elsewhere. Former head coach Frank Vogel did not trust that enough in the postseason and Budenholzer has yet to play Bol this season.

It’s also now a test for Phoenix’s execution in crunch time. It is 7-0 in games featuring clutch minutes, largely because of Durant. Friday’s win, though, was a closing couple of minutes that did not involve a Durant takeover and came down to some key defensive stops and hustle plays.

Booker finding his shot would be a huge aid in that. He’s at 42.9% from the field and 32.4% on 3s. While Booker is traditionally a slow starter who really heats up once the turn of the new year arrives, this nine-game beginning is the second lowest FG% of his career, per Stathead.

But flip that to true shooting percentage to better weigh 3s and free throws, and Booker’s 57.6 TS% isn’t so bad thanks to how many more of those shot types he’s taking at this stage of his career. That’s just shy of the 57.9 TS% over his entire career and a similar pace to his 2021-22 season when he was First Team All-NBA. He will be fine.

This will be a particularly interesting two weeks to watch Beal. He’s been great as a point-of-attack defender and glue guy in other departments but part of his appeal is still being able to channel the ultra-lethal scorer he is when the Suns need it. They now need it.

Phoenix plays seven games across the two-week timeline. It includes a four-game road trip and a fairly challenging slate.

Sacramento is on there twice with a deceiving 5-4 record does not reflect how threatening it appears through nine contests. That’s game number two of the road trip on Wednesday before the heavyweight main event in Oklahoma City versus the titanic Thunder on Friday. The time away from home ends with Phoenix’s first glance at the new-look Timberwolves. The Suns then host the Orlando Magic, who will still put up a big fight without Paolo Banchero, before the trying-to-figure-it-out New York Knicks come to Phoenix with loads of talent.

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