The Phoenix Suns are a completely different team than the one that drafted Devin Booker in 2015-16, and yet he is still the face of the franchise. He has taken his lumps while playing for the organization, watching them go from Western Conference bottom feeders, to success story of the NBA’s bubble, and finally NBA finalists.
All of this and still only 26-years-old, meaning in theory he hasn’t even entered his prime yet. We got a glimpse into what this could look like during the postseason, with Booker going nuclear en route to helping the Suns become the only team to take two games off the eventual champion Denver Nuggets all playoffs.
Another jump forward is surely on the horizon, and the Suns are counting on this to happen if they want to win a championship.
With Chris Paul having now left town, it is on Booker to take all of the experience he got playing with the “Point God”, and put it towards building a winner with Kevin Durant and the recently added Bradley Beal. The offensive engine of this group is going to run superbly, but it will take more than that to be truly successful.
The goals of Booker for next season then may appear lofty, but they are also necessary if this group wants to arrive at its final destination. He has been linked to Jayson Tatum and even Jamal Murray since entering the league, and a stellar 2023-24 could truly set him apart in that conversation as the best of the three.