Few NBA players have been as disrespected as Devin Booker in the last few seasons, although it is not hard to see why. While some of the guys who were drafted after he was in 2015 have led their franchises to championships, Booker instead went backwards once Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were added to the mix.
It is a sign both of how difficult it is to be truly great in this league - with a hint of overlooking thrown in for good measure - that the 28-year-old has only made an All-NBA team twice in his 10 year career. Not even being named an All-Star in 2024-25 represented a new low, as Booker has always connected with the casual fans for his elite offensive game.
Game Theory Podcast take Booker disrespect to new low.
We've reached the point in the offseason where anything can be packaged as news, and that was certainly the case with the latest from the Game Theory Podcast. Both Sam Vecenie and Bryce Simon always give measured and informative takes - but in putting Booker below Karl-Anthony Towns in their redraft of the 2015 class - they may have lost the plot altogether.
Towns is obviously elite offensively in his own ways, but he has never led an organization in the way thsat Booker has. Put another way, if you asked any New York Knicks fan in your life who they'd rather have next season - or any of the last 10 - between Booker and Towns, who do you think they would pick? Exactly.
Booker let's not forget has led a team to the NBA Finals before, and if anything a meddling front office stopped that from happening again. They were right to move on from Chris Paul when they did, but swapping him for Beal in hindsight was a disaster. So too was trading for Jusuf Nurkic, even this third choice South Sudanese big man looks the more appealing player these days.
Despite only being named to a pair of All-NBA teams - which feels one too low - Booker is the only player in his draft class to ever get named to a first-team. That was the same season in 2021-22 when he also finished fourth in MVP voting, the third time he was named an All-Star. If anything the only argument here is that Booker has trailed off in the last two years.
The arrival of Durant likely has something to do with his fourth All-Star nod coming in 2023-24, with no selection the year before or after that. Adding one of the best scorers of all time is the price he had to pay to try and contend again, only we know now that didn't happen.
We know this is just a bit of fun as the competitive games remain some time away from tipping off again, but it's also not even a conversation either. There are others who instead believe Booker is primed for the kind of bounce back season we haven't seen from him before, and you can bet that is going to once again include outshining Towns. How was this even a debate?