Phoenix Suns ready to 'finish the job,' win NBA championship with Kevin Durant addition

Deandre Ayton misses his former teammates Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson dearly.

Those were his guys. They grew from boys to men in Phoenix together.

Bridges said last season he and "twin" Johnson looped in Ayton to form triplets.

They’ll always be forever brothers, but Ayton didn’t need long after the blockbuster trade that brought in superstar Kevin Durant to process this as a championship-or-else move.

Now there’s only one thing left to do.

“We’ve got to finish the job,” Ayton said. “The expectations are way higher. It’s just a whole new team. The vibe has changed. Can’t wait to step on the court and go into my first battle with those guys.”

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The Suns traded four future first-round picks, a pick swap, Jae Crowder, Johnson and Bridges to Brooklyn for T.J. Warren and Durant, a two-time finals MVP, to win an NBA championship right now.

Period. The Suns are 0-3 in the finals.

“Today is a transformative day for this organization,” new Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia said in a news release after Thursday’s 1 p.m. trade deadline.

The Suns (31-27) didn’t deal away two young pieces of their core in Bridges and Johnson who were productive starters, great teammates and diehard fan favorites – and their draft future – just to bow out in the second round again.

This was done to be the last team standing in June.

“When you bring a guy like KD in, you're saying one thing to the league. We're going for that championship,” said Shaquille O’Neal at his Shaq’s Fun House Super Bowl party in Arizona.

That's Kevin freaking Durant.

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“What KD say in that interview one time, y'all know who he is,” Suns All-Star Chris Paul said. “You add him to the doggone, who was it that the Harlem Globetrotters play against all the time, the Washington Generals. If you add him to them, they’re going to be nice. KD is different, man. He’s different and that’s why he is who he is.”

The listed 6-10 Durant won’t make his Suns debut until after the All-Star break as he’s been out with a right MCL sprain. Phoenix’s first game out of the break is Feb. 24 against Oklahoma City at Footprint Center.

Durant is already in Phoenix. The time between now and whenever he returns for the Suns to sit down with Durant to go over film will be huge to develop a system that works for him – and everyone else.

“Right now, I think it’s the old Pop saying, less is more,” Suns coach Monty Williams in talking about his mentor, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “We’re going to try to figure that out.”

The Suns will have just 22 games left in the regular season after the All-Star break. That doesn’t feel like a long time to infuse a talent like Durant into the fold before the playoffs, but All-Star Devin Booker isn’t worried.

“I can’t wait to be out there with him,” he said. “One of those pick-your-poison type situations. I think all of our games complement each other, everybody on this team. I’m sure there’ll be little kinks we’ve got to work out early on, but when it comes down to it, I like what we got.”

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Phoenix is fifth in the West going into Monday's slate of NBA games. The Suns have the same record as Dallas, but the Mavericks are 2-1 against them. They play each other one more time on March 5 in Dallas.

"Special players call for special situations," Paul said about Durant. "Luckily we've got an amazing coaching staff. We'll talk, figure it out and we'll see what we look like."

Williams said hours after the trade that Durant, Booker and Paul can play with anybody, but he’s looking to define Ayton’s role with those three perimeter stars who are used to handling the ball.

“You have other guys around them that have to fit, and we have to figure out rotations and staggering lineups and all that stuff,” Williams said. “I think the transition for the staff, not so much the players, what groups work with what and how to close quarters and look at the history of different guys' rotations and try to mesh them well.”

Durant has never played with a young center like Ayton who puts pressure on the rim with his dives, is athletic and knocks down jumpers from 15 to 18 feet and beyond.

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Steven Adams is a physical brut with limited offensive skills while Serge Ikaba is more of a pick-and-pop big. Durant played with those two at Oklahoma City.

Kevon Looney is a worker who has a limited scoring role while JaVale McGee is an athletic roller who scores mostly off pick-and-roll. Those two shared the floor with Durant at Golden State.

Then in Brooklyn, Durant played with DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, Andre Drummond and LaMarcus Aldridge, who were all past their prime, Jarrett Allen, who became an All-Star in Cleveland and Nic Claxton, who is having a career year this season, but he’s not as talented or productive as Ayton.

“The one thing we have to do now is look at Kevin’s rotation over the course of his career and see which one best fits how we play with Book and Chris and DA,” Williams concluded.

Williams coached Durant as an assistant on Team USA and at Oklahoma City. Now Williams has the chance to head coach a player who he calls “the hardest worker” he’s ever been around.

Read more: Why Kevin Durant wanted trade to Phoenix Suns

“Tim (Duncan), Kevin, Patrick (Ewing), guys that I've watched over the years,” Williams said. “And there's other guys that are right there, but that was the thing that stood out to me. The love for the game. The approach to the game. Getting up early, staying late, all of that stuff. Even as a young guy, star, superstar, he’s always had that approach."

That approach is what links Paul, Booker and Durant.

“I’m sure he knows our system already,” Booker said about Durant. “He’s spent time with Coach Monty. All he does is watch basketball. I've been with him a few times, been over to his house a few times. That's all it is, highlights and games on. That’s the type of people I like to be around. We have that same common interest and love for the game. Just top competitors, we hate to lose and we like to show people what it is.”

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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: Phoenix Suns ready to 'finish the job,' win NBA chip with Kevin Durant