Devin Booker, Kevin Durant ‘growing closer every day’

In a new interview with Rich Kleiman of Kevin Durant’s Boardroom media outlet, Barnes revealed specifics of the deal for the first time. “We signed a very beautiful, high seven-figure deal for a two-year situation to not only pay us for what we accomplished, but built up our company,” Barnes said. -via Awful Announcing / November 20, 2024

Mat Ishbia: “When I traded for Kevin Durant, it was a no-brainer. A thousand times out of a thousand, you make that trade. You get Kevin Durant on your team with three and a half years left on his contract from the time I traded for him, and you put him next to Devin Booker, and you go play. And I feel great about the trade then. I feel better about it even now. It’s been a great thing for our organization, and I can’t wait to see it come to fruition the way we all envision it.” -via YouTube / November 20, 2024

As everyone in Phoenix hones in on a third consecutive postseason together, Ishbia told ESPN this week that he fully expects to sign Durant to a contract extension next offseason and wants the 14-time All-Star to retire as a Sun. “[Durant] loves being in Phoenix, we love having him,” Ishbia told ESPN. “He’s off to an amazing start this season — one of the MVP leaders — and we’re off to a very good start. We expect Kevin to sign an extension, be with us for the long term. We hope he finishes his career here in Phoenix. “You can’t sign a two-year extension this last summer, you can’t do it based on the NBA rules. So we figured after the season we’ll talk about it, take care of it. “Kevin wants to be here, we want Kevin here. There’s never been one grumbling of anything different.” -via ESPN / November 20, 2024

“I was just understanding what was at stake,” Booker said. “I take pride in being from this country. I take pride in the game of basketball. Even though it wasn’t invented in America, we have dominated for a long time. Obviously, the world is super-talented and the game is growing, but it was another message to let them know who we are.” -via Andscape / November 20, 2024

“Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player. Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that,” Kerr said. The “unsung MVP” compliment meant a tremendous amount to the Phoenix Suns guard. “It meant everything. No one really asked him,” Booker recently told Andscape. “That was probably something that was weighing on his heart throughout the whole process. I said it a year prior what I wanted to do for that team and what we want to do for the country. “It was way bigger than all of us. To pull through was something we will talk about for the rest of our lives.” -via Andscape / November 20, 2024