Devin Booker can sign a two-year, $149.8 million extension this summer that keeps him with the Phoenix Suns through the 2029-30 season. That sounds like a no-brainer for both player and team on its face. But Suns fans should be rooting for him to turn it down—not to expedite his departure, but to put more pressure on Phoenix to earn his loyalty, and make the roster better.
Other factors go into Booker potentially passing on an extension this offseason. Most notably, he can lock in an additional year and $83.7 million in guaranteed money by waiting until the summer of 2026 to sign an extension.
There’s also the chance this reeks of an empty gesture. Booker was reportedly intimately involved in the hiring of head coach Jordan Ott. Does he really have the leverage to make the Suns uncomfortable enough to continue operating with the utmost urgency?
Um, yes—yes, he does.
Devin Booker is the Suns’ future
Kevin Durant trade talks are all over the place, and there’s no telling what the Suns will get back in return for his services. Banking on internal development is a borderline sham. Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro are useful players with varying degrees of upside. Neither profiles as building-block material. They look more like strong complements to a larger vision.
Counting on reinforcements via the draft, meanwhile, provides little hope. Phoenix does not control its own first-rounder again until 2032. It could theoretically bring back top-tier draft picks in any KD trade, but teams aren’t usually in the business of mortgaging massive swathes of their future for a soon-to-be 37-year-old entering the final season of his contract.
Nobody should be preparing for Bradley Beal and his no-trade clause to help this roster as a contributor, or deal-making asset. Other players, such as Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, might net the Suns something. But it will be a small something.
Booker is it—the whole kit and kaboodle, and then some. He is the driving force of Phoenix’s offensive attack. He is the player most likely to elevate the production and impact of those around him. He is the star other stars will want to play alongside. (KD himself is proof.) He is, quite simply, everything.
The Suns need to feel the weight of Booker’s future
If Booker doesn’t sign an extension, it should create a level of unrest inside the C-Suite, rattling owner Mat Ishbia and general manager Brian Gregory to their very cores. That’s a good thing.
Granted, the Suns shouldn’t need to be reminded of his importance. Yet, they remain a threat to indulge their shortsighted impulses following the inevitable KD trade. There are already murmurings that they may look to reroute assets from that deal to get the 29-year-old, absence-prone Kristaps Porzingis.
Phoenix needs to dream bigger—smarter. Booker’s heyday isn’t going to last forever. He turns 29 in October. Playing for a contender will eventually outstrip his allegiance to the Suns. Ideally, that contender is the Suns. But getting back into the inner circle requires them playing their post-KD hand to perfection.
What that entails is anyone’s guess. It’s also not our problem. It’s on Gregory to lay the blueprint, and on Ishbia not to meddle with it. Having to reconcile the idea that Booker might not be on board long term will only increase the intent with which they act. And the only way to forge that tension, the kind that necessitates forethought, is for Booker to turn down his extension.