Phoenix Suns coach Frank Vogel wasted no time making a connection with one of his superstar players on the team's first day of training camp.

Vogel at practice at the Verizon 5G Performance Center in Phoenix wore the black and vivid purple colorway for Kevin Durant's signature shoe, the “KD16.” He was seen talking with Durant after practice and joked he wears the shoes better than the forward does.

“I rock them better than he does,” Vogel joked.

Vogel in the Suns' training camp practice Tuesday at the Verizon 5G Performance Center installed beliefs and schemes he and others hope will lead the team to its first-ever championship. Phoenix majority owner Mat Ishbia came out and said Monday he feels the team has the best roster in the NBA, but they have to put the work in.

Here is what Vogel said about the team's culture with plenty of new faces.

“We just really encourage communication,” he said. “And the underrated piece of communication is the willingness to listen. We're going to challenge each other, but if we're going to be defensive every time somebody tries to correct you or put you in our place, then we're not going to get very far.”

The Suns are expected to have one of the most skilled offenses in NBA history if they maximize their potential. Phoenix has three players who have averaged at least 22 points per game for their careers (Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal) and will get a lot of production out of those three.

But for Phoenix to win a championship, it will have to bring together areas that are seen as weaker. Vogel pointed out physicality and boxing out as a point of emphasis.

Beal was made available to the media after practice and said if the Suns don't come together defensively, their overall potential will be for naught.

“The first day is establishing your basics as a coach and what your expectations are for us as a team,” Beal said. Like I said, more or less being a physical, defensive-minded team. That's going to come first.

“We know what our abilities are on offense, but if we’re not willing to guard and defend and get in a stance, hold each other accountable on that end, then we’re wasting our time.”

The Suns' practice was observed by Ishbia, CEO Josh Bartelstein and general manager James Jones. Each of those front office members voiced confidence Monday in the team they constructed and its position to win a championship.

Phoenix couldn't win a title under former coach Monty Williams, who changed the culture of the team after they missed the playoffs for a decade. Williams is a structured coach whose schemes put the Suns in an incredible position to win with an NBA Finals appearance in 2021 and a franchise-best 64 wins in 2021-22, which was also the best record in the league.

Tuesday's practice had a different vibe from Williams' sessions. The Suns seemed a bit more loose in free-throw lines after practice. Popular rap songs “Yosemite” by Travis Scott and “We Paid” by Lil Baby played over the courts, showing a different approach to building a team.

Phoenix guard Eric Gordon said he has “very good” impressions of Vogel early.

“He's a competitive spirit but also a very nice guy,” Gordon said. “He's a communicator, so that's what we need for this team.”

Vogel has to make the Suns' big three with Booker, Durant and Beal work and mesh a new bench. He has experience coaching superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis with the Los Angeles Lakers. He talked about how he wants to build a relationship with Booker, Durant and the rest of the Suns players in a similar way.

“Those relationships are similar, but those relationships are not too different than the relationship with Grayson Allen or Yuta (Watanabe) or all the guys on the team,” Vogel said. “You want to get to know them as people, you want to see how you can help them in their career and what positions we can put them in to help them reach another level of their success, but also making sure that the environment around those guys is going to be held to a high standard.”

That high standard was on display in practice, Gordon said.

“Today was good, very competitive,” Gordon said. “I mean, it was high-energy, did a lot of playing, a lot of different drills. We got after it. It wasn't like a sit-back practice.

“You can tell they set it up to be very competitive, a lot of defensive drills, a lot of guys going one-on-one, different progressions. And did a lot of five-on-five. So it was a lot of contact.”

Suns confident in shooting

The Suns' lack of 3-point shooting in the playoffs hurt them against the Denver Nuggets. Phoenix only had one player, Booker, rank among the top-50 players in the postseason in made threes per game (he was tied for ninth at 2.8). He was also the only player on the Suns to make more than 20 threes in the playoffs.

Phoenix has plenty of sharpshooting that should help its offense around Booker, Beal and Durant. The Suns have 10 players on their roster (below) who shot at least 35 percent from 3-point range in 2022-23.

Beal and Gordon each talked about how the Suns could get up a lot of threes this season. Beal said Vogel has not pointed it out as an emphasis yet but they are capable of exploding from deep.

“We understand that 3-point line is important,” Beal said. “We understand that we can shoot it at a very high rate… to have that type of ammunition around here is great.”

Added Gordon: “If this team gets up a lot of threes, we should be hard to stop. As long as we’re hitting the open man and making right decisions on pick-and-roll situations, it should be a fun game for us. Score a lot of points.”

Gordon happy in Phoenix

To Suns fans, Gordon was supposed to be a Phoenix Sun back in 2012, when he signed a four-year deal in restricted free agency the then-named New Orleans Hornets matched.

Now, Gordon is in the Valley on a team with championship expectations.

“During that time, I think the Suns were going through a rebuild,” Gordon said. “But like I said, this is the best position to be in right now with a team like this.”