Why is this good for Devin Booker?
Shooters gonna shoot and scorers gonna score. Booker is right handed.
Oh the horror.
Having surgery on your shooting hand as a shooter has got to be a bad thing, right? Especially when you’re young, were just 10th in the league in scoring with 24.9 points per game and looking for that arrow to go up?
Au contraire. This should actually help Booker.
With the way technology has advanced over the years, he will be able to come back stronger and better than ever.
He’s such a competitor too and has no quit. He’s going to work as hard as he can to come back as soon as he can. He’s not one to sit still and wait, so he’s not going to let that brace prevent him from developing in other areas while he heals.
He’ll work on his left hand – doing drills, finishing at the rim, dribbling, improving his ball-handling and even shooting with his off hand. I’m not saying he’ll become ambidextrous over night but I’m also not counting that out with as hard as this young man works.
Phoenix Suns
We all saw how helpful being able to use both hands was for Hall of Famer and former Suns point guard Steve Nash. If Booker can just improve in that area, which I’m sure he will, it will do wonders for his game. He’ll be able to improve his shooting percentages and increase his scoring by having a second hand on offense.
Devin will also be able to learn from the sidelines and grow as a leader off the court.
The Suns brought in several new players this summer. Obviously, that means they weren’t his teammates last season. For all those wanting Point Booker, this is good news in that regard.
Even if he doesn’t play point guard on a consistent basis, he should – and likely will – handle the ball on almost each and every possession.
Being out, he will be able to see how all the new arrivals move on the court, where they like and should get the ball to have a better chance at scoring. Sometimes it’s better to do that while you’re not playing because you aren’t stuck with a split second decision and have time to think on how that possession could have been handled better for the improvement of the team.
He will be able to study the young guards and know more about whoever will share the floor with him. He will be able to watch Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson, Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton and the others and know how to fit better with them and help the team gel and move towards winning basketball.
Booker will be able to be like a second coach, helping his teammates and telling them where to be on the court as he will see the whole picture from the sidelines.
Speaking of sidelines, this will also help him get closer to new head coach Igor Kokoskov, form a relationship with him and get to know his game plan better.
“Young Kobe” will be able to jump right in once he’s cleared to play and be able to play at a higher level, and with a greater understanding than he would have had he not been injured.