NBA: Devin Booker development at the Phoenix Suns: Harden rather than Thompson

The Phoenix Suns have been one of the NBA’s worst teams in recent years and are currently only ranked 13th. Space in the west. Another trip to the Lottery is almost certain. Nevertheless, there is hope for success in the near future – because franchise player Devin Booker is becoming more mature as a player from day to day. Things could have been different.

In the off-season, the Suns actually wanted to end the hoarding of talents – as they did a few years ago. It should go forward, at least one player with all-star format to be pulled ashore. The rumors were all the rage: Phoenix was in the race for Kyrie Irving or Blake Griffin.

Neither of them came to Arizona – and so the Suns had no choice but to be patient again and place even more responsibility in the hands of Devin Booker.

In the meantime, General Manager Ryan McDonough even explained in December that Booker is allowed to have a say in future decisions on the team’s direction – or whether Jay Triano is more than just an interim coach – and whether his word has any weight. Only a franchise player who is supposed to be Booker in Phoenix can do that.

Not everyone was convinced that Booker could be such a franchise player. So after another half-season, the question arises: is Phoenix on the right track? Can Booker be a superstar?”

Yes, at least in terms of scoring. At the tender age of 21, Booker places 25.3 points per game – only seven other players had a higher point average at this age. One of them was a certain Michael Jordan, but he didn’t manage to score 70 or more points in one game.

Booker beat the Boston Celtics last season and became the youngest player ever to break this record. Booker himself joked about his milestones:”What can Jordan do that I can’t? He never scored 70 points in Boston, but reducing Booker to it would be a mistake.

In the current season, only nine players in addition to Booker score 23 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists with a true shooting score of at least 54 percent. In the draft and his first two seasons, Booker was considered a Klay Thompson type, apart from the defence, and a finisher, but Sun coach Jay Triano is now the primary ball handler.

Booker uses its function as a ball handler to run significantly more pick-and-roll. In his first two seasons, Booker ran a total of 800 games – after his first 36 games this season, he has already won 239. In college, he was more of a Thompson type (0.3 pick-and-rolls per game) but James Harden is the better match this season, partly because of Kentucky’s strong team, which didn’t even let Karl Anthony-Towns come to fruition.

Booker is obviously satisfied with that.”I love Triano. He has been doing a wonderful job since he arrived,”enthuses Booker of his coach in conversation with AZ Central. Triano can already reap the first fruits of his experiment: Bookers Ballhandling has improved considerably compared to last season.

It also hits its threesome better than last season (38.7 percent three-way rate) with increased volume. Currently, only seven other players are hitting higher percentages, squeezing at least seven times per game from downtown. Among them are only two primary ball handlers: Stephen Curry and Kyle Lowry.

The accuracy from outside also benefits Booker in the crunchtime, where he has already scored some important throws for the Suns. Recently, he sent the game against the Hawks into overtime with a threesome. It wasn’t the only Clutch-Dreier Bookers: In the past season he shot the New York Knicks 30 seconds before the end of the season, before he struck down the Sacramento Kings with the Buzzer a few weeks later.

But Booker can do much more: this season, he shot the Suns into Wesley Matthews’ face with a buzzerbeater-fadeaway to defeat the Dallas Mavericks. He is already one of the best clutch players in the league: In the 2016/17 season, only six other players scored more clutch points than Booker, who scored a total of 90.

The NBA defines such a situation as follows:”The game is in the last five minutes and the difference in points between the teams is no more than 5. This season Booker ranks fourth in this ranking. But: No player completes his scores with a better odds. Celtics star Kyrie Irving already sees a winner in Booker:”He simply has it in him. He already has that killer instinct.”

He also pays back the trust of Coach Triano with significantly improved assists figures. In his rookie season, Booker distributed only a meager 2.5 templates – now it’s almost twice as many.

Harden, too, made such a development after his move to Houston, but Harden now has the perfect team around him. The situation is quite different with the Suns: Daniels is the best shot of the Suns with 41 percent, whereas otherwise only Dudley, Bender and of course Booker are better than average. One consequence of this is that the Suns cast better than the LA Lakers brick factory in a team comparison.

Usually starts next to Booker Tyler Ulis, who not only takes the ball out of the best player’s hands, but also offers no space (26.8 percent threesome). Furthermore, Marquese Chriss, Josh Jackson and TJ Warren are no marksmen. Warren currently stands at 19 (!) percent of downtown. Jackson came out of college as a strong defender, who are desperately needed next to Booker, but he also has to work on his litter. Due to the weakness of his fellow players, the opponents can concentrate more on Booker – especially in the drive.

Speaking of Defense: This is probably the most important question when discussing whether Booker can be a franchise player at all. A feature film from Booker’s defensive lowlights can be cut this season, too, but it has increased in the pick-and-roll defence in particular: meanwhile it doesn’t get stuck on every block. Triano, who spoke to Sports on Earth:”He made the biggest leap in defence. “He’s a great pick-and-roll defender and communicator.”

Booker’s influence on the defense, however, is still negative: With Booker in the field, the Suns have a defensive rating of 110.5 – without him, it’s 107.9. Harden is also considered a bad defender, but the Beard’s failure is mainly due to his lack of attitude.

In the mail due to its mass even a good one. In order to become a real franchise player, Booker has to add a little bit more defensively.

It’s better that the Suns didn’t land a big fish in the past off-season, because the development of Booker would have suffered a lot and the team in general is not ready to win yet.

“He already has the skills and is a great player because he can’t only score. He can also rebound and fit. Now it’s all about putting the right players at his side,”Irving said after the match this season, in which Booker scored 38 points. The desert townsmen have various assets to build the perfect team for their star (- or to get another star).

In the asset pot of the Suns are beside all own picks also two Firstrounders from Miami and the Milwaukee pick from the Bledsoe-Trade. That high picks alone are no guarantee for success has been proven not least by the Suns in recent years – Bender, Chriss and Jackson still have to decide whether they can one day be described as good picks. With Booker, however, the Suns seem to have mastered the most important decision – an explosive scorer he is already, a (at least offensively) complete superstar seems to be in him as well.