12 days of X-Mas – Obscure stats in Suns history Day 9
By Adam Maynes
Devin Booker
When General Manager Ryan McDonough selected Devin Booker with the 13th overall selection in 2015, the 6”6″ guard was best known as being a sharp-shooter on the second unit of Kentucky’s vaunted 38-1 team who ran through the season undefeated until a Final Four loss to Wisconsin.
That Kentucky team boasted eight future NBA players, including Booker, Suns teammate Tyler Ulis, and 2015 first overall selection and NBA Rookie of the Year, Karl Anthony-Towns. However, Booker, having never started a game in college (his only year at Kentucky), very little was expected of him coming into Phoenix. This is most evident in the infrequency in which he played in his first few games.
Although he scored 14 points off the bench on 6-7 shooting in his first career game, Booker played a minuscule 2:24 in his second outing, coincidently on his 19th birthday, then over his next 16 games, failed to even appear in four while not even reaching the 10 minute mark in an additional seven.
Out of necessity though, Booker was thrust into the starting lineup due to injury by the end of December, and save for one game a week later, never relinquished the spot.
Over the season’s final 50 games, Booker averaged 17.9 points while grabbing 3.2 boards and dishing out 3.6 assists, and shooting 31.0% from beyond the arc. Book scored 30+ points six times over that stretch, and as the starting point guard for a good stretch of those games, even dished out 10+ assists on two occasions, and 5+ 15 times.
Booker finished the season averaging 13.8 points, good for fourth in rookie scoring average on the season, and helped him earn 4th in Rookie of the Year voting. However, he had left his mark on the roster and already seemed destined for great things as a centerpiece of the franchise.