With all of the success the Golden State Warriors have had over the last 10 plus years, you will forgive us if we don’t exactly have sympathy for the situation they find themselves in right now.
But with Stephen Curry and company having missed out on their last hope of becoming a fringe contender again in the form of LeBron James (the Phoenix Suns might even have had a better chance of landing him), Devin Booker is now free of an annoying tag that was placed on him.
Curry has replaced Booker as league’s stranded top star
If you rewind 12 months, the departure of Kevin Durant had many outside Phoenix suggesting it was only a matter of time before Booker himself asked out. The team was going nowhere, only they put all that noise behind them to make the playoffs and, whisper it quietly, make small improvements to their roster this offseason.
The same cannot be said for the Warriors, who are still trying to build around Curry and Draymond Green but have not had much success. One time Suns trade target Jimmy Butler tore his ACL, while hoping to get consistent production out of Al Horford when he’s almost as old as LeBron is foolish. Kristaps Porzingis is a nice player, if only he could stay healthy enough to contribute on a regular basis.
Much is expected of rookie Yaxel Lendeborg and perhaps the Michigan product can accelerate this weird spot the Warriors find themselves in, but at 23-years-old he’s nearly as old as Oso Ighodaro who is about to enter his third season in the league.
All of which is to say, Curry is now the superstar who has no hope of winning anything, and not Booker. There’s no reason why the Suns can’t make the playoffs once more, the middle of the pack out West hasn’t gotten any better.
Curry has always been known as a star who doesn’t rock the boat and trusts his front office, just like Booker. Only that’s easier to do when you’re constantly in contention, whereas last season with no hope of winning it all Booker showed up every night like he always does, and never complained about another year of his prime being used in this way.
Curry is a lot closer to the end than Booker, yet already there have been rumors he is unhappy about the prospect of a lost season.
Which is understandable, but is also undoubtedly a win for the Suns. The franchise spoke a big game about re-tooling around Booker, and in overtaking the Warriors in the Western Conference they are backing up those proclamations. As Curry is discovering and as Booker had to live through last season, it’s not easy being the guy when you’re not being surrounded with the talent necessary to win.
Add us as a preferred source on Google