'Feel great': Kevin Durant will make Phoenix Suns debut Wednesday at Charlotte Hornets

CHARLOTTE – Deandre Ayton often has referred to the Phoenix Suns as “the show” during their recent run of success.

That’s taken on a whole new meaning with the addition of Kevin Durant.

“It’s a show we’ve never seen,” Ayton said. “We’ve brought Broadway to the Valley. We’ve got Hollywood, Broadway, we’ve got everything in the Valley.”

The first act will take place in Charlotte, as Durant will make his Suns debut Wednesday against the Hornets (20-43) at Spectrum Center.

"I feel great," Durant said Tuesday. "Been lookin forward to getting this opportunity to play again. It's been a long time. I was having fun out there before I got injured. So I'm looking forward to going out there and picking up where I left off. I know it's not going to be that smooth. I know it's going to take me some time to get used to everything early on. As far as just having fun and getting lost in the game, I'm looking forward to doing that again."

The two-time finals MVP and 13-time All-Star hasn’t played since Jan. 8 at Miami where he suffered a right MCL sprain when he was with Brooklyn. The Suns traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first round picks and a pick swap to the Nets for T.J. Warren and Durant before the Feb. 9 deadline.

Durant is listed as probable for Wednesday's game.

"You just want to see him out there with the team," Suns coach Monty Williams said. "Obviously, there's excitement, there's all the stuff that goes with it, but for me, it's allowing him to blend and figure out things we do, but also learn from him based on his skill set and experience and IQ of the game. I think it's a great opportunity for us to grow and the most important thing is to win the game."

Durant has been practicing with the team as part of his ramp-up. Saying he hasn't felt pain in his knee in "a couple of weeks," Durant has been full go in practice since returning from the All-Star break.

"I wanted to get a few (practice) sessions with the guys before I could just throw myself back out there," Durant said. "It's a matter of ramping my body up and getting used to that bump and grind of playing the game again. Just playing against defenders again. I needed that under my belt and I'm glad I got it. We had a great practice (Tuesday). So just keep building. Keep stacking."

Durant has been watching the games from the bench in street clothes and using those moments as mental reps to see where he'll mesh with the Suns.

"How I can inject myself, where I can see myself fitting in," Durant said. "Different sets on defense and offense that we run I can see myself helping with. Just trying to visualize what I want to happen and try to execute as best as possible."

Now, Durant will play his first game with his new team Wednesday.

"Is it official?" Devin Booker asked a reporter.

Yes, it's official.

"OK. Good." Booker responded.

The Suns (33-29) are fourth in the West, but now are considered by many the favorite to win the West with Durant.

"It's exciting," Booker continued. "It's something we've all been waiting on. We've got 20 games to get everybody acquainted. He's one of those plug-in players that's good in any system. He knows the game. He's up to speed on all of our sets and how we play. I don't know how much time he's going to be out there, but I'm looking forward to it."

Williams said Durant will be on a minute restriction.

Booker returned on Feb. 7 at Brooklyn from a left groin strain that sidelined him 21 games, but he didn’t play in Phoenix’s next game on Feb. 9 at Atlanta due to injury management.

When asked if he Suns will follow the same schedule with Durant, who hasn’t played in nearly two months, Williams said, "We don't know yet."

Phoenix is in the middle of a four-game road trip that continues Friday at Chicago and ends Sunday at Dallas. The Suns will face Oklahoma City in their first home game after the road trip on March 9.

The Suns are as close to healthy as they’ve been since the season opener.

Only Landry Shamet is out. The Suns backp guard hasn’t played since Jan. 16 at Memphis, sidelined with right foot soreness. The team is looking to have a re-evaluation update later in the week.

"We're real excited," said Suns backup point guard Cameron Payne about Durant's debut. "We just had a good practice. Did a lot of things with him. He's starting to pick up a lot of things that we do. It's going to be fun (Wednesday). The biggest thing is let's get the win for real, for real."

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Charlotte is on a season-long, five-game winning streak. The Hornets are coming off a 117-106 win Monday over Detroit as they had five players score in double figures.

Terry Rozier scored a team-high 22 points, Gordon Hayward posted 19 while LaMelo Ball and Kelly Oubre Jr. each added 18. The Hornets shot 13-of-26 from 3 with Ball going 6-of-7 from deep.

Oubre Jr., who played in two seasons (2018-20) with Phoenix, and Rozier each made a trio of 3s.

"Charlotte has been playing well and we understand that, but we respected them before their winning streak just because, one, it's an NBA team, and two (Hornets coach Steve Clifford) is one of the best at preparing his team," Williams said. "They play hard and have talented guys."

Ball left Monday's game with a fractured right ankle, is ruled out Wednesday's game and will likely miss the rest of the season as the Hornets have 19 games left and are 10 games behind the Wizards for the play-in 10th seed.

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Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kevin Durant will make Phoenix Suns debut Wednesday at Charlotte