Few NBA superstars have a higher approval rating with their own fans than Devin Booker. A superstar is also what he is, despite what others might try to tell you.
This season he has proven once again that he can be the best player on a team that makes the playoffs, even though most predicted the Suns would win less than 30 games.
Booker named one of 11 worst contracts in the league
Despite this, Stephen Noh of Yahoo! Sports recently put together a list of the 11 worst contracts in the NBA today, and Booker somehow landed in second. Really?
Before you head to Noh's socials to tell him what you really think (and you shouldn't because by all accounts he is a great guy), consider this quote from the piece which, we hate to admit, is kind of true...
The Inside the NBA guys all have Devin Booker as their #1 NBA All-Star west reserve spot.
— CantGuardBook (@CGBBURNER) January 29, 2026
Book yet again, receiving the respect from his peers, coaches, and former players but yet, he’s still the most disrespected superstar in the league by fans. pic.twitter.com/uvjE3RnMuA
"He should be a no-brainer All-NBA player in order to justify that price tag. He's been more like a top 20 guy".
The price tag Noh is alluding to is the five-year, $304.5 million contract (final year is player option) that Booker is currently playing on, which makes him the ninth highest player in the league.
Is it fair to expect somebody making that much money to be a level better than Booker has been this season? Probably, although it is not like he has been bad and will likely once again be an All-Star assuming he returns from his ankle injury soon.
He is also part of a cohort of players that Bill Simmons once christened in his annual top trade candidates list as "sorry, he means more to us than you". Booker is being paid that much in part because he is Phoenix basketball, and has been for over a decade.
He was also given his most recent extension in part because owner Mat Ishbia knew that in trading away Kevin Durant the window for true contention was closed for now. So he had to keep his star player happy.
To again give Noh some credit here, this is not a deal that is going to age well. By the time he is 33-years-old, he is going to be making over $70 million in a single season.
That part does not warrant thinking about right now however, not when the Suns are exceeding expectations and Booker has been a huge part of that.
The fans are firmly back onside as well, and this is a group that is heading in the right direction. Putting Booker second is harsh, although we will admit, in time it will become harder to defend.