Phoenix Suns: Could Devin Booker pull a Patrick Peterson?

Arizona Cardinals star cornerback Patrick Peterson pulled an “I don’t wanna be here” moment and passive aggressively demanded a trade. How possible is it that Devin Booker does the same thing, within the next year?

The Arizona Cardinals have been a pillar of stability for many years now, consistently pulling themselves up after a year or two of struggling, like all non-New England Patriots franchises do. They have winning in their recent past. They have a core of at least one star to superstar player in almost every position group.

They play in the NFL where team’s regularly go from worst to first and parity reigns supreme.

Patrick Peterson claiming he wants a trade is shocking because not only is he a team leader, but he is a cornerstone piece on the roster many hope will remain with the franchise throughout his entire prime – if not career.

He is also 28-years-old and in the NFL that means that he doesn’t have a whole lot of his prime remaining before father time demands his due so while it hurts Cardinals fans that Peterson would demand a trade so he can win somewhere else, the sport itself at least naturally draws players to that conclusion as they reach his age.

Devin Booker, on the other hand, plays in the NBA.

The Phoenix Suns have been a losing franchise for nearly a decade now and with the construction of the league, might find themselves in this situation for many, many years to come.

There is no parody in the NBA. The teams on the top often stay on the top and the teams on the bottom beg for scraps.

Booker has never known winning in his career, as short as it may be. He has become the center of the franchise yet he is unable to lead them to the number of wins necessary to raise Phoenix to prominence.

Booker too is much younger than Peterson. He hasn’t been here anywhere near as long. Book is a team leader simply because of skill, but he hasn’t develop the bass in his voice yet to grab the attention of every player simply because he demands it.

He is also about to get paid.

His max contract extension is coming to him beginning next season regardless of who is signing the checks.

Devin Booker doesn’t have  to be here.

Phoenix Suns

And if this season goes south, he might decide that he doesn’t want  to be here anymore as well.

The Phoenix Suns are a mess. As of right now they are much worse than anyone could have imagined. The veterans acquired over the summer are not producing the way they were expected to. Aside from Booker and T.J. Warren, the young Suns are just not producing the way they should based on their draft positions.

The team is playing zero  defense. Through three games they have what would be the worst Defensive Rating in franchise history (by far),  and on the court they don’t look like they are even trying.

Devin Booker certainly knows his talent. He knows he’s good. He knows that he would be well sought after if he were to be on the trade market. He knows that good teams would want him bad,  and that he could make the difference between a playoff team and a championship contender with his acquisition.

Devin Booker sees whats going on in the rest of the league. He sees the teams that are doing well and having fun. He sees the adulation that stars get when they enter a new city, and then when they win.

He also sees what other talented players in Phoenix demand when their team doesn’t win often enough.

Booker doesn’t have to look far to find a talented Valley star on a bad team demanding a trade. Heck, he and Peterson have probably talked.

But here’s the worst part of Devin Booker potentially wanting out if things do not improve: if the Cardinals traded Patrick Peterson, they still have a number of talented, star players on the roster who can be built around.

The draft picks they would presumably acquire might actually help Arizona turn their standing in the league around even quicker – if they draft well.

If Devin Booker left the Suns, that franchise is screwed, and I mean royally.

It usually takes talent to acquire talent in the NBA. Star players don’t chose the worst teams possible so they can be the only talent on a roster.

Star players want to play with star players. With Devin Booker on the roster, there is always the chance that a star player decides he wants to play here with  Booker. If that happens, the franchise is officially on to something.

However, if Booker leaves, there is not a chance in a Phoenix Summer that the Suns are getting any relative value in return. The franchise then will automatically regress.

They won’t have to tank to lose, they’ll just be so bad; they’ll lose.

A lot.

Only, unlike the last three seasons, fans won’t have a star of Booker’s caliber right off the bat to grasp onto and have faith in.

The fanbase will shrivel almost beyond repair.

It would take a miracle to turn things around and rebuild the lost trust in the fanbase.

The problem is, it’s rare for franchise’s to receive more than one miracle in any given era, and they already have the result of one on the roster. They drafted him, outside of the top-10 (13th overall), in 2015.

His name is Devin Booker.

And unless the franchise want’s to risk Booker pulling a Peterson, they’d better find a way to start winning before it’s too late.