Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker is the Best Player Left in NBA Playoffs

Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker is better than Trae Young

Like Booker, Trae Young finds himself absolutely running through the playoffs as a first-time participant. His Atlanta Hawks dismantled the New York Knicks after five games, and then miraculously took down the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers during a seven-game slugfest.

As the only player mentioned here averaging more points per game the Booker, Young ever so slightly surpasses him, scoring 29.1 per game. However, Young occasionally falls into some tough shooting spells, unlike the rather consistent Booker, allowing his efficiently to still surpass that of Young’s. The former Sooner’s shooting splits go down as .413/.330/.877, while Booker’s clock in at .491/.382/.924.

When comparing two high volume scoring guards, Booker’s ability to hit from the floor at a far more efficient rate certainly outweighs the extra 0.1 more points per game which Young adds.

Now, Young’s incredible 10.4 assists per game remains something unable for Booker to argue against. Young even dished out 18 dimes during Game 4 against Philly, the second most ever by a Hawk during a playoff contest.

But quite frankly, one’s passing abilities often separates point guards from shooting guards, making this something we expect from Young, similarly to how we expect Antetokounmpo to out-rebound Booker. Even amidst this though, Booker still possesses a better offensive rating (116.0) than Young (111.6), endorsing that his far more efficient scoring outweighs this clear strength illustrated by Young.

Defensively, this one comes as a no-doubter. Those guarded by Young shoot 45.4 percent from the field, ranking as the 117th worst mark, whereas Booker’s opponent field goal percentage at 42.1 percent ranks 59th. Booker also easily averages more rebounds at 7.4 per game compared to Young’s 2.7 per game.