3 Ways the Phoenix Suns can ease the burden on Devin Booker

With many unassisted buckets coming in a greater volume, the Suns need to make some changes sooner than later to make things easier for Booker and the team. This starts with Booker’s role in the offense.

Phoenix needs to run some plays for Booker

To date, the idea is Devin gets the ball, beats his man, and scores his buckets, which works; the man averages almost 28 points per night on the season. However, it is much easier to score when plays are being run for you; ask Bridges.

Before the Bridges trade, we made a similar observation about how Bridges had not picked up his scoring load because he was not getting easy looks, just a lot of volume. Then the Suns started running more plays to get Bridges open looks in positions where he felt comfortable, coming off screens near the foul line extended, and his scoring went up.

The Suns should do the same for DBook and work to get him more open looks. Booker shoots best when taking zero or one dribble. This is easier when a player comes off of screens and has his number called in the set of the half-court.

We know Booker is getting his fair share of looks and is getting his number called, it is just too much on him and not in the flow of the offense, and that needs to change. Even two or three plays per night can make a big difference as his minutes continue to grow. This is especially true at the three-point range, where Booker shoots 47% on catch-and-shoot opportunities versus just 32% on pull-up attempts. Which would you rather see Booker take?