ESPN analyst reverses field on trashing Kevin Durant, says he'll ride with Phoenix Suns

Retired 14-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst, Kendrick Perkins, has another strong take on the Phoenix Suns .

This time, it is not one that will lead to another feud with former teammate-turned-foe Kevin Durant. It is also not one in which he questions Durant or Suns guard Bradley Beal's interest in the Phoenix Suns. He did not even suggest Durant switch teams again .

He actually believes Durant, the Suns' 11-time All-NBA forward, and his team have a better chance to win the NBA title this season than most predict:

"They're my dark horse to win it all," Perkins said on ESPN's "NBA Today." "We saw a disgruntled, unhappy Kevin Durant average 27 points last year. And he wasn't seeing eye-to-eye with Frank Vogel. Now, he's coming in — fresh start, fresh off of winning the gold medal — we saw the joy he was playing with."

Durant averaged 27.1 points per game last season, finishing the year as a second-team All-NBA selection. And Perkins claimed earlier this offseason that Durant did not speak to then-Suns head coach Vogel for the last three months of the season. Perkins began those comments by saying he is tired of "dealing with these soft, cupcake players that lack accountability.”

The Arizona Republic's Suns reporter Duane Rankin pointed out that Perkins' claims about Durant and Vogel were false , and Durant appeared to express on X (formerly Twitter) that they were false. Perkins must not have changed his mind, however, and also thinks that this "fresh start" with new head coach Mike Budenholzer will be significant for KD.

"Now he has Mike Budenholzer over there," Perkins said. "Mike Budenholzer is coming in with something to prove. He feel like he shouldn't have been fired from the Milwaukee Bucks. Bradley Beal is happy. We saw how great Devin Booker looked in the Olympics, and they filled in the pieces. Again, this guy (Mason) Plumlee. He is so valuable to this team. Every single team that he's been on, he's helped them move the goalposts on both ends of the floor."

Suns guard Booker was a starter for every game in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Team USA. Booker connected on 56.8% of his shot attempts from the field and 56.5% from behind the 3-point arc.

"There's question marks on every single team in the Western Conference," Perkins said.

"And that's why it wouldn't surprise me, and I'm ready to jump off the porch right now and say; 'You know what, the Phoenix Suns are my dark horse.'"

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ESPN analyst reverses field on trashing Kevin Durant, says he'll ride with Phoenix Suns