Is Kevin Durant souring on Phoenix after Suns' lackluster start to season?

Just hours before Kevin Durant was set to finish the NBA's Christmas Day slate, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported what the Phoenix Suns cannot have.

ESPN's Senior NBA Insider reported that when talking "to people in Phoenix and around that organization, they can feel the frustration with Durant."

The Suns' top player, Durant is having another stellar season. In addition to averaging 30.3 points per game to go along with 6.2 rebounds per game and 5.5 assists per game, Durant is shooting a career-high 46.9% from three. The Suns, however, are 14-15 to begin the season.

In fact, Wojnarowski reported this even before Phoenix officially dropped below .500, as it lost on Christmas night at home to the Dallas Mavericks. Phoenix cannot afford to not capitalize on a prime year from a 10-time All-NBA player.

"Part of that (frustration) certainly is the missed games for Brad Beal," Wojnarowski reported. "This team was built around those three stars. The underwhelming supporting cast that comes from those massive trades for Durant and Bradley Beal, that really gutted the organization and left them having to sign a lot of minimum players to fill out the payroll."

Suns sacrificing depth for star power

Phoenix traded Mikal Bridges to Brooklyn in the trade for Durant. Before he was traded to Brooklyn, he was averaging 17.2 points per game (a career-high at the time), 4.3 rebounds per game (tied for a career-high at the time), 3.6 assists per game (a career-high at the time) and 1.2 steals per game during the 2022-23 season in Phoenix. He was shooting 46.3% from the field, 38.7% from beyond the three-point arc and 89.7% from the stripe.

They also traded Cameron Johnson in the deal, who was shooting the best clips of his career from both the field (47.4%) and from downtown (45.5%) during his time with the Suns last season before the trade. He was putting up 13.9 points per game.

More KD comments: Kevin Durant, Suns praise Chimezie Metu's career night in Christmas loss to Mavericks

They most certainly did gut depth with the Durant trade, and of course traded 11-time All-NBA selection Chris Paul in the Beal trade, who is still averaging 7.6 assists per game and 1.3 steals per contest this year. Meanwhile, as Wojnarowski pointed out, Phoenix is struggling to find this kind of production out of their role players.

He mentioned how the players Phoenix signed to try to fill out the rest of the payroll in free agency have not panned out. The only free agent signing that the Suns made in the offseason that has paid dividends is shooting guard Eric Gordon.

Gordon is averaging 13.2 points per game and a steal per game. He is also converting on 45.7% of his field goal attempts, 38.5% of his three-point attempts and 81% of his free-throw attempts.

Suns sacrificing the future for star power

"They lack the assets, the draft picks, the trade capitol to go out and really improve this team," Wojnarowski said. "This is something they're going to have to manage in Phoenix with Kevin Durant. You've seen it before."

Phoenix did indeed trade four first-round picks to the Nets in the Durant trade. They also traded six second-round picks to the Wizards for Beal. Therefore, they are short on future draft picks, if that's what teams will want from them in potential deals at the trade deadline.

Also, it is true that the NBA has seen Durant request a trade. That was of course how he ended up in Phoenix.

Durant has not publicly made any comments suggesting that he has soured on the Suns, but these rumblings from Wojnarowski are not what the franchise can afford right now. Especially with how Durant's supporting cast has not lived up to expectations, and with the lack of trade assets Phoenix has with so many future draft picks gone.

"It is a stark reminder of how short of a window (this team has), and how this team has to win big, and they have to win big quickly based on how it was constructed," Wojnarowski said. "And having Kevin Durant still playing at an All-NBA level, and a healthy Kevin Durant, there's a lot at stake for this organization. It's got to change soon."

Update: Kevin Durant responds

On Tuesday night, 12 Sports anchor Cameron Cox posted an Instagram screenshot of Durant responding to an Instagram comment of someone saying "(Durant)'s starting to be in that cancer/cry baby conversation":

Durant's response reads: "woj (Wojnarowski) says somebody else 'feels' that I'm frustrated and it turned into me being mentally checked out. ... These people can flat out lie on my name ... and you people will believe it but when my teammates n coaches speak on how I am as a teammate, u ignore it lol."

It goes to remind those following the situation that Durant himself has never said that he's frustrated as a Sun, and he has now also publicly refuted that he's mentally checked out. He makes it clear that his teammates and coaches' words are more accurate than what Wojnarowski has reported.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Is Kevin Durant souring on Phoenix after Suns' lackluster start?