How much should Devin Booker have a say in Suns free agency?

It’s always important to keep your best player happy, but that can come at a cost. How much should Devin Booker be considered in Phoenix Suns free agency?

It’s easy to see the dangers of not keeping your stars happy. Just take a look at San Antonio. Kawhi Leonard wasn’t having fun, his relationship with the team became fractured, and now he’s demanding to be traded to a new team. The Spurs clearly didn’t do enough to keep their best player satisfied, and now it’s costing them.

But it goes the other way as well. In Cleveland, the Cavaliers considered LeBron James‘ wishes too much, and now the team is in much worse shape because of it. They dished out big contracts to guys like Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith just to keep James happy, which resulted in the team losing all flexibility and being unable to compete. And even after all that, James is probably leaving anyway.

For the Phoenix Suns to properly balance Devin Booker‘s desire to win with their need for patience to ever actually compete for titles, they’re going to need to find a happy medium.

There are a few reasons why it makes sense to consider Booker’s feelings in free agency. First, the team is being built around him, so it makes sense to ask who he can see himself playing with based on their style of play.

However, Booker has a lot less leverage over the team than someone like Kawhi Leonard does. Leonard’s in the final year of his deal and is set to become an unrestricted free agent. If he wants to leave San Antonio next year, there’s nothing the Spurs can do to stop him.

But Booker is about to become a restricted free agent, meaning the Suns will have the right to match any contract he attempts to sign with another team. That would likely give Phoenix four more years to make Booker happy, and by that time the team should be ready to compete.

Next: Top 5 Suns point guard options in free agency

The Phoenix Suns should consider which players Devin Booker wants to play with, but they shouldn’t let him dictate what they do in free agency. They have a plan, and they shouldn’t cut corners just because Devin Booker wants to win more games in the short-term.