Devin Booker‘s presence on this list may shock some. It may anger others. This was the most difficult decision to make, but ultimately Booker has a few things on his résumé that suggest he should make the cut.
This season, his fourth in the league, Booker is putting up lofty per-game numbers. 25.4 points, 7.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game are numbers no other Suns player has put up over the course of a full season. There have been just 39 player-seasons to hit those numbers across all franchises. Only LeBron James did so at a younger age than Booker.
Since the Suns drafted him 13th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft he has been racking up points at astronomical rates, despite his young age. Booker was the fourth-youngest to 3,000 career points, the youngest to break 60 points (he put up 70), the third-youngest to 4,000 career points — on and on.
Yet, the Suns have been abysmal during his time on the team. He has around eight career win shares — a number 22 Suns players have cleared in a single season. While he is an offensively special player, his defensive limitations and the talent around him have prevented him from elevating the team to anything resembling quality. To rise up this list, Booker will need to make a leap. Hopefully the team will as well.