Phoenix Suns star, Devin Booker, made his first NBA All-Star game this season and won more games than any of season in his career. Let’s recap what has been the best season in Booker’s young career.
With the signing of Ricky Rubio, a trade for Aron Baynes, and re-signing fan favorite Kelly Oubre, Phoenix Suns fans had a lot to look forward to in the 2019-2020 NBA season. However, the biggest thing to be excited about was none other than the Suns’ franchise player, Devin Armani Booker.
Booker averaged a career-high 26.6 points and 6.8 assists per game in his fourth season in 2018-2019, but adding a traditional point guard was expected to the pressure off of the star shooting guard.
Booker and the Suns opened up the season with a 29-point win over the Sacramento Kings. Booker contributed 22 points and 10 assists in an exciting win to kick off the new season. Booker would see some success with the Suns for the first time in his career. Phoenix started off 7-4 and even won 3 games in a row at one point. That seems like another day in the office for some teams, but for the Suns it was the most exciting thing in years.
Due to the absence of Deandre Ayton and multiple injuries to many players, the Suns would continue to decline but still be a way better team than last season. D. Book was on fire throughout his first 25 games, shooting the elite 50/40/90 splits and on his way to the history books once again.
Prior to the All-Star break, Booker was averaging 26.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists on 49/35/92 shooting splits and led the Suns to a 22-33 record, which would already pass the win total of 19 from the previous season.
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The Suns were much-improved along with Booker. His efficiency leap was what was most impressive as you can see in his shooting percentages and advanced stats. In January, Booker cashed in 7,000 career points in yet another 29-point win, this time over the Dallas Mavericks.
Heading into the All-Star break, Booker had 22 games of 30+ points, even scoring 30 or more points 7 games in a row (most in Suns history). As Suns fans know Booker does way more than just score, he also had four games with 10+ assists, all of which were double-doubles.
Adding all of that together along with the injury of Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, Devin Booker was selected as an NBA All-Star for the first time in his career.
It would be the first All-Star for the Suns since Steve Nash in 2012. Devin only played 10 minutes in the All-Star game, putting up 6 points and 4 rebounds along with a disgusting put-back dunk in a 157-155 team LeBron win.
The night before his All-Star debut, Booker participated in his 4th NBA 3 point contest, making it all the way to the championship round which he eventually lost to Kings guard Buddy Hield.
After the All-Star break, the Suns only got to play 10 games before the season was put on hiatus. In those 10 games, Booker averaged 24/4/7 with low 43/36/89 shooting splits for the normally elite and efficient scorer. The Suns would go 4-6 in the final 10 games played, placing them 13th in the Western Conference with an overall record of 26-39, which is the most wins for a season during Booker’s career.
All together. Booker averaged 26.1 points per game, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.6 assists, on 48/36/91 shooting numbers. This was definitely a career year for Booker and the continuation of his legacy he has started since coming to Phoenix back in 2015.