Phoenix Suns: 3 Key Players that Will Make or Break the 2021-22 Season

Phoenix Suns Make or Break Players for 2021-22: Devin Booker

How could this list not include Phoenix’s proudest son? Last year, Devin Booker led the Suns with 25.6 points per game, as his team looked to him both during the playoffs and regular season whenever they needed a bucket. As a clear illustration of this, Booker ended up posting the highest usage rate by any Sun last year at 31.9 percent, far beyond the next closest man at 22.1 percent.

During clutch situations, the ball always found itself within Booker’s hands as well. Even if you wanted to, forgetting his game-winner against the Los Angeles Clippers during Phoenix’s bubble run feels impossible. Like his good friend D’Angelo Russell, he knows all about living with “ice in the veins,” and never hides it.

But aside from all that Booker does for this team production wise, he also serves as its heart and soul. Booker ran with Phoenix during its darkest days as a franchise, and with the team finally emerging from its slump as he simultaneously comes into his prime, both he and Suns pump life into each other.

If anything were to happen to Booker (knock on wood), the entire state of Arizona would feel the ripple effect. Like a car needs wheels, the Suns need Booker. No way around it.