The 5 best Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker has had

Hard as it may seem to imagine now, there was a period of time not that long ago where the Phoenix Suns were just not that good. The NBA’s bubble down in Florida was the turning point for the organization, where they won all eight games they played in and were fuelled by the continued rise of Devin Booker.

That run was still not enough for the Suns to make the postseason, and before that 10th placed finish they had ended the previous four seasons in last place in the Western Conference, and Booker’s rookie year before that again in 14th.

Times were tough, and yet some of the teammates who Booker played with both during this period, and beyond, were among the best he has ever had.

He has been the franchise’s cornerstone since he was 20-years-old, and although he now shares the limelight with Kevin Durant and Chris Paul, many fans still see Booker as the face of the Suns because he has played his whole career there.

Sifting through all of the players he has played with however, and the list of top teammates is not as long as Suns fans would like it to be. Booker has shared a locker room with the likes of Kris Humphries, Ronnie Price and Greg Monroe. There has also been too much time spent with individuals like Elfrid Payton and Alex Len, who were never going to move the needle.

With the Suns facing down the barrel of an uncertain summer as a result of needing to add considerable depth and not having a ton of money to do so, here are five of the best teammates Booker has had since coming into the league. All making this list for different reasons, with Booker being the better for having been around them all.

The 5 best Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker has had.

5. Torrey Craig

What better place to start than with Torrey Craig, the ideal role player to have next to Booker who has filled his role diligently for the organization. It is telling that Craig played 32 times for the Suns back in 2020-21, before moving onto the Indiana Pacers to begin the following season.

Midway through the year the opportunity came up to bring Craig back into the fold, which the Suns gladly took. Craig has been beside Booker for all of the good times that the team have experienced in the last few years. Any playoff run they have embarked on, his importance as a defensive stopper and player who could hit a couple of shots has been evident.

Averaging six points per contest for his career to this point isn’t much, but therein lies the importance of Craig. He’s more than happy to let Booker, and now Durant, take all of the shots, while he fills in around the gaps. This was never more true than during the regular season this year, when Craig shot a hair under 40 percent from deep.

Craig is the ideal kind of player for Booker to play with, and who came along at the right time. At 32-years-old, he is a veteran who is only interested in winning, and doing whatever it takes to make that happen. Had Craig played with Booker earlier in his career when the Suns were no good, the fit would not have been nearly as profitable.

Craig’s current deal is up this summer, and although the Suns won’t have a lot of money to attempt to bring him back, it is something they should try and do. He has proven he can excel next to Booker over the course of a season, and has the skillset to mesh really well with his All-Star teammate.

The 5 best Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker has had.

4. Eric Bledsoe

A surprising inclusion on this list, Eric Bledsoe is the point guard responsible for the infamous I don’t want to be here tweet. Troubling times for the Suns, and a reminder of just how far they have come since that moment. Why then is Bledsoe on this list at all?

This is more of a “don’t do what I do” choice, and one which Booker figured out while playing with Bledsoe. In the three seasons they spent together, Booker’s first three in the league although that third year spent together lasted only three games after the aforementioned tweet, the two lead the team in usage.

In Booker’s rookie year Bledsoe was on top (27.2 percent), but by Booker’s sophomore season, the front office knew what they had and were putting the ball in the hands of Booker more (28.6 percent, to the 28.1 percent of Bledsoe). Any grumblings about Booker coming in and running the show never went public from Bledsoe, even when there was talk of them splitting duties.

Bledsoe had already done this with Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, and was likely in no mood to receive less of the ball and put the offense in motion less frequently. Unfortunately for Bledsoe, he never came across as a winning player either, and his time dominating the ball coincided with the Suns being one of the worst teams in the league.

That is not all on Bledsoe, and this process was a valuable one for Booker. He had a front row seat in learning how not to handle business, and also in growing into a star in a way that benefitted the whole team. We know he went on to do this, with Booker rarely letting any frustrations show to the media and public, and by becoming a teammate who knew when to shoot, but also pass.

Can we credit Bledsoe with all of this? It might seem like a stretch, but we have to try and find the good in a bad patch in the history of the organization. Bledsoe is only 33 and currently plays for the Shanghai Sharks, despite putting up 18.8 a night when with the Suns. Talent was never the problem, attitude was. Credit Booker for watching that scenario unfold and doing differently.

The 5 best Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker has had.

3. DeAndre Ayton

Booker and DeAndre Ayton are less Batman and Robin and more… Buzz and Woody? It is not that Ayton hasn’t been an excellent teammate for Booker, they have spent their entire careers together and have helped the Suns get all the way to the NBA Finals before either hit their prime.

But much like Buzz, Ayton has shown a desire to go to infinity and beyond, culminating in him signing an offer sheet with the Pacers last summer. The Suns matched, and any strain this may have had on the relationship between the two has been, to this point at least, kept out of the public eye (can we credit Bledsoe with that too?).

When the two are together and all is going well, they’re one of the best duos in the league. Ayton commands the paint well and is an ideal defensive big man, who has a nice two-man game with Booker, and who seems to accept that Booker is above him in the billing and the pecking order every night.

But there have been times when Ayton has looked to score more, or to have more touches, and that is when the combination looks like it could go off the rails. Lurking behind all of that is the real issue, which is that Ayton could one day soon decide once again that he’d prefer to ply his trade elsewhere.

Alongside that unspoken but accepted fact, is that the Suns might want rid of Ayton just as much. That deal he signed to return to the team was done at a time when the front office didn’t want to lose an asset for nothing, and before Durant joined the group.

Now Ayton is making over $30 million for the next three seasons, which alongside the mammoth deals of Durant and Booker, makes it extremely difficult to fill out a roster. On his best days, there are no realistically available centers in the league who are better at playing with Booker. But when times aren’t so good, the productivity and engagement of Ayton can dip.

The 5 best Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker has had.

2. Tyson Chandler

The other side of the Bledsoe coin here is consummate professional Tyson Chandler. Before there was Ayton and his flirtations with going elsewhere, there was the ever-dependable big man in Chandler, who was with the Suns between 2015 and 2019. In other words, he was the veteran voice in the ear of Booker from the moment he got into the league.

Chandler was past his best once he got to Arizona, and was 36-years-old by the time he left town and ended up signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. But what Chandler brought to a struggling team was championship experience, having been the anchor for a Dallas Mavericks group that shocked the league and won it all in 2011.

Having that kind of voice and leader for a young Booker was invaluable, and helped to mould him into the player that he is today. Chandler was the chaperone for a young core of guys which included Len, Archie Goodwin, Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss (even typing that list was painful…), which on reflection shows us just how little Booker had to work with in the beginning.

The Suns went an awful 68-178 in the first three years after Booker was drafted, and Chandler was there for all of that losing as well. A malaise can seep into an organization when they’ve gone on an awful run like that. Even more so when lottery picks such as Len and Bender flame out badly.

Throughout all of this Booker got better, and although Chandler can’t take the credit for all of this, he was a winning player who knew what it took to go all the way who was in the ear of Booker all of the time. He also allowed Booker to play with a big man who was always going to defer to him, and who was happy to clog the paint and rim run. A sort of dry run before Ayton came along.

The 5 best Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker has had.

1. Chris Paul

How could it be anybody else? The moment the Point God joined the franchise, was when the real winning started. Chris Paul is not only everything a young player like Booker could ask for in a teammate, he is everything anybody could ask for. Insanely high basketball IQ, and court vision for days.

Throw in the at times elite defensive abilities, particularly for his height, and Paul finally gave Booker his first legitimate star teammate to play with. A trip to the finals beckoned in their first season together, a remarkable ascension given that the Suns hadn’t made it to the playoffs at all in the previous decade.

Paul was the best parts of previous teammates all rolled into one. When he arrived he played at a high level and was still in the tail end of his prime, being the kind of player Bledsoe thought that he was. He was also a complete professional, taking care of his body and imparting wisdom on Booker in much the same way Chandler had.

Paul even managed to get the best not only out of Ayton, but later lumbering big men like Bismack Biyombo. About the best compliment you can give Paul is that he’s a player that fans of opposing teams hate. He’s an annoying irritant who gets under the skin of others, but who you absolutely adore having on your team.

Paul’s time with the Suns may yet take a sour turn, but that is only because he is now 38 and making a lot of money. His best days are behind him, but the actual relationship between Paul and Booker has always appeared strong. This is again telling of Booker, when you consider James Harden once sent Paul away in favor of Russell Westbrook while with the Houston Rockets.

Booker will never have a teammate like Paul again, and he should enjoy every moment. As the two best players on a team, they were legitimately good enough to win a championship together. That is no longer true, and it is the reason Durant arrived to try and get them over the top, but there is no question that he is the best teammate that Booker has ever had.