Jimmy Butler has some surprising thoughts on Devin Booker's game

Before the Phoenix Suns decided to re-tool around Devin Booker this offseason - although this is beginning to look a lot more like a full-on rebuild - they tried to acquire Jimmy Butler at the deadline. The thought process was with Kevin Durant heading for the exit, Butler would bring the right mentality and two-way game to help the Suns get to the playoffs.

Instead it was the Golden State Warriors who ended up nabbing Butler, and making it to the second round of the postseason in the process. That Durant didn't want to go back to San Francisco led to this happening, and the rest is history. The Suns ended up with Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks instead, plus a whole host of intriguing rookies.

Butler's comments on Booker's game perhaps tongue-in-cheek.

We are now entering the dog days of the offseason, where anything can make a story. Some fans of Booker's recently bumped into Butler in one of his Bigface coffee shops, and asked him who would win in a game of one-vs-one between Booker and himself. Rather than actually engage, Butler gave the deadpan response that Booker would win 11-0.

This is clearly a bit of fun - because if we know one thing about Butler - it is that he is among the most competitive players in the league today. No way he actually thinks Booker would sweep him, especially given what a tough defensive player he continues to be. It was his on-ball defending that had Suns' owner Mat Ishbia falling over himself to add Butler on a new, long-term deal in Phoenix.

But Butler has at least tipped his cap to the 28-year-old, and what a fantastic offensive player he is. You could take this to mean he is actually not respecting Booker at all, although if we know one thing about the Suns' cornerstone, he's not likely to clap back. That might have been Durant and even Beal's style - who could forget this - but Booker handles his business on the court.

We'll never know how this would actually go down, although the Suns missing out on Butler was actually a blessing in disguise. He would have raised their floor last season, but the franchise would now be staring into a bleak future where Butler, Booker and most likely Beal were the trio of stars they tried to build around while being in the second apron.

Booker does have work to do in order to become an All-Star again, and really he should be cooking the 35-year-old when the chance presents itself. Perhaps we'll get that matchup next season, although at this point it'll likely be as both sides battle it out for a play-in spot. Kudos to Butler for how he handled this though, it could have blown up for no reason otherwise.