Weaknesses
There’s a problem inherent in drafting any Kentucky player revolving around the following question: Is his success a product of his own ability or the talent around him?
For the superstar types (John Wall, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins) it was never an issue, since those guys were so overwhelmingly talented that it was easy to isolate their sizable impact from their fellow five-star recruits.
Sir Charles In Charge
Role players have had more mixed results. For every Eric Bledsoe and Terrence Jones, there’s a Doron Lamb (who incidentally played the same role as Booker on his Wildcats team). Booker falls decidedly into that role player role. On a team that went 38-1 and was deep enough to use two five-man platoons, Kentucky’s chances of winning never rose or fell with Booker’s performance.
While Booker is good in transition, he struggles to finish in traffic. With his size there’s definitely room for him to improve, but he was hesitant at the college level, usually pulling up before getting to the rack and getting to the free throw line about as often as Tom Thibodeau smiles.
He has a nice up fake and three reasons for a defender to buy it, but it’s not going to get him anywhere if he doesn’t find a way to become more explosive and gain the confidence to attack.
He projects to be a solid defender, but his production wasn’t great at that end, as Booker averaged just 0.4 steals per game and had only two blocks all season…and that’s playing with teammates that gave him the leverage to gamble.
Despite his youth, Booker doesn’t have superstar upside (which is typically what you look for taking an 18-year-old in the lottery) and given their consistent mediocrity, it might make more sense for the Suns to swing for the fences.
Next: Potential Fit