Devin Booker hasn’t even been named an All-Star yet, but on this anniversary of Charles Barkley being presented with the Phoenix Suns’ first MVP, it’s fun to speculate how Booker can too win the league’s top award.
If there is any player on the Phoenix Suns’ roster right now who could potentially win an MVP, there is no doubt that that player is Devin Booker.
Only 22-years-old and already one of the most prolific scorers for his age in NBA history, Book is slowly working himself up the ranks of one of the best young players in the league, if not already the best young shooting guard.
But for a player who has never yet been an All-Star, is it ridiculous to ever think of him as a potential MVP?
Honestly? Not only is that not a silly idea, but it is more ridiculous to think that he could not be an MVP someday.
Considering what all he has already accomplished on an individual level at his age, he still has much to learn and plenty of room for growth. There is no doubt, to be such a prolific stat-stuffer already is a very good baseline to set for himself.
Expectations are only going to continue to rise from here, and if he is able to continuously meet them, the league will take notice.
He too will not remain All-Star-less forever and there is every reason to believe that if he builds upon the statistical bar he reached last season that 2019-20 will be the year where he finally breaks in.
Phoenix Suns
Truthfully, had he been in the Eastern Conference for the first four years of his career, he would likely have been an All-Star three times already, which is in and of itself a loose an argument for becoming a future MVP candidate.
Therefore, if we assume that lofty expectations will continue to be met, and All-Star games are in his (near) future, then how about the all important success of his team which is inevitably (if not unfairly) tied to all MVP candidate’s award prospects?
Believe it or not, the fact that the Suns have absolutely sucked for so long should actually play well in his favor.
While it would be better for him to have joined a bad team and skyrocketed them to the top of the league (ala Charles Barkley in 1992 – not that they were bad, but there was a significant improvement over the 53 win and Semifinal loss Suns of the year before and the team that Barkley built – and Steve Nash in 2004), a major improvement of the Phoenix Suns’ record while showing that personal growth (probably, although specifically, improving his man-to-man defense while raising his rebound and assist averages) will play heavily in his raising of league-wide recognition.
Often MVP’s need that surprise value of team improvement working in their favor to go along with gaudy stats (part of why Hall of Fame players like Dominique Wilkins or Carmelo Anthony were never truly considered MVP favorites).
It wouldn’t necessarily need to be in 2019-20, but let’s say that the Suns improve their record by 16 wins next season and finish 35-47. It is a leap forward, but not enough to make the playoffs or catapult Booker to the upper echelon of the MVP discussions.
However, let’s then say that in 2020-21 he continues to improve and actually leads the Suns to a 55-27 record, a 20 game improvement over the following year, and a top-four spot in the Western Conference playoffs.
Imagine such a team improvement, especially after then ten straight seasons of the Suns missing the playoffs, while he averages personal statistics of around 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists per game (maybe he throws in a 60 point game once or twice – in victories). By this point, he has become an All-Star, an invaluable leader on a developing team, and he continues to be a positive face in the media.
Of course, the success of he and his team alone are only one variable in the MVP discussion and we can have no idea today who else might have an amazing season or big jump individually over the year before, but that is the kind of momentum that if things broke right for Booker it can all make him a leading candidate.
That is also one, very specific, scenario.
Another way for Book to potentially win the award for best player in the league for one year, is to continually put up gaudy numbers, particularly 27 points or above while the Suns become a regular Western Conference power. Then five, six, seven years down the line, maybe for one year he runs unstoppable, he breaks a scoring average of 30 points per game, and coupled with the earlier proposed rebounding and assist averages, he carries the Suns to the best record in the league (somewhere around 60 wins).
All of that too could be the year where he breaks through in the voting – and is basically how Barkley won it in 1992-93.
If that never happens, so long as Booker remains a statistical marvel, ten years from now too he could essentially win MVP as a lifetime achievement award, similar to how Karl Malone won it in 1996-97 (and really won it in 1998-99 when he was nowhere near the same player he had been in his prime).
There is no doubt that Devin Booker has the skills to be one of the best players in the league, and with continued growth and certain improvements to his game, there are definitely multiple paths to him eventually winning the league’s MVP.
The quickest way to pull it off though would be to have a sudden and tremendous improvement to the team’s record while maintaining his status as the heart and basketball soul of the team. So, on this anniversary of Charles Barkley being officially awarded his own trophy, the first in Phoenix Suns history, the idea of Devin Booker eventually winning the award as well is not at all out of the realm of possibility.