5 Best Sophomore Phoenix Suns: Bar Set High For Devin Booker
Phoenix Suns’ sophomore superstar in the making, Devin Booker, enters with some of the highest expectations around a Suns player in years.
Booker stormed through the league in the second half of his rookie season with the Phoenix Suns in 2015-16, and even more is expected for his encore.
If Booker is truly held to the standard of former Phoenix Suns’ greats, he is going to need an exceptional break out season.
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Booker spent his rookie season on an injury depleted team that lacked the talent and healthy bodies to compete most nights.
The 2016-17 Suns look to be a better team (health/luck aside), but they also are a very young team with three guards worthy of starting.
A big question for Booker will be guarding the small forward position. Is he a small forward? No. But if it gets him onto the court, the Suns should explore this option.
Increased versatility on the defensive end will only help Booker and the Suns in the long run. If Booker proves able to defend small forwards in small-ball lineups, it will be a huge boost to his defensive value.
Offensively. Book needs to simply continue to progress he made last season. Despite his reputation as a sharp shooter, Booker’s 34.3% from three was almost identical to Brandon Knight (34.2%) and good for 8th on the Suns. However, Booker was the Suns’ fourth best scorer per 36 minutes last year.
Booker also showed flashes offensively was his passing, finishing with 200 assists against 160 turnovers. Not great numbers, but comparable to Archie Goodwin and Sonny Weems. Again, not great players to be comparable to, but the difference is Devin Booker was a 19-year-old shooting guard.
Devin Booker has an opportunity to expand his game in so many ways. He will need to if he wants to match anyone on this list. At number 5….