The Phoenix Suns are 1-1 to begin the season, and it was a tale of two Devin Bookers across both contests. In the 41-point hammering at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers, neither he nor his teammates covered themselves in glory. Fans were up in arms that he had lost his step and was past his best before he put up 43 points as the Suns beat the Golden State Warriors.
This will happen again many times over the course of the season, and fans have to accept that.
Booker's greatness will not sustain Suns through 82 game slog
The franchise cornerstone is about to turn 30 years old, and the Suns have committed to trying to build a winner around his talents. It is unclear why they continue trying to get him to play as a point guard for stretches of the game, or attempt to make it work in the backcourt with another scorer in Jalen Green, but through all of that, Booker has never complained.
Fans can't expect his elite offensive skills (which he still has) to make them competitive every night, particularly when new addition Miles Bridges has so far failed to live up to expectations. When he has another rough shooting night, any game against the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs is going to be tough; jumping on social media to proclaim he is washed should not be the move.
Similarly, when he goes off against the lesser teams such as the Warriors, that is not a guarantee that the Suns are going to win a playoff series, although owner Mat Ishbia has already gone public in asserting that will happen this season.
3-point shooting woes area fans should expect Booker to fix
Through two games, Booker has gone 2-of-7 from deep, and all of those attempts came in the win over the Warriors. Not attempting any 3-pointers when down by more than 50 points while being the best player is unacceptable, but this is a problem that goes back to preseason and, in truth, before that as well.
For such a skilled shooter and mid-range master, being a career 35.2 percent shooter from beyond the arc is unacceptable, and Booker's life is not being made any easier by the starters currently alongside him. Bridges and Dillon Brooks do not sufficiently spread the floor, while Jalen Green and Khaman Maluach are not elite from deep either.
This puts pressure on Booker to produce offensively in all areas every night, and on many nights, he will. That doesn't mean the Suns will go on to win a championship this season, and neither will the awful shooting performances mean this whole thing needs to be blown up. The sooner fans accept this, the less stressful their fandom will be.
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