The last four years have not gone to plan for the Phoenix Suns since reaching the NBA Finals back in 2021 - but if nothing else - they will always have Devin Booker. The 28-year-old superstar signing an extension with the franchise earlier this offseason, which in theory will take him through to the end of the decade.
By that point he is also likely to be the Suns' greatest ever player, if he's not that already. Charles Barkley might have the aura and Steve Nash certainly has the MVP awards - but in terms of longevity and what he means to Phoenix - Booker is already the runaway leader. Statistically he continues to build his case year-on-year as well.
Suns have John Calipari to thank for delivering them Booker.
Sam Vecenie and Bryce Simon recently returned for an episode of their Game Theory Podcast, one in which they attempted to redraft the 2015 class that Booker was a part of. Already we've had some friendly disagreement about where they ranked Booker - but when it came to figuring out why Booker was consistently put so low in mock drafts before going 12th overall - the answer was much easier.
Vecenie put it best by correctly exclaiming that Booker "just didn't play a lot", and that was a decision made by former Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Across a 38 game college career, he had zero starts and managed only 21.5 minutes of action per game. Were there signs of an elite offensive game in there? Sure, but Booker also only managed 10 points a night as well.
It is hard to talk yourself into using a high lottery pick on a young guy with admittedly massive upside, especially at a time when the league was in a different place. Sure Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors were in the process of ringing in the 3-point revolution that we all know today, but that hadn't reached fever pitch when Booker was coming out of college.
Despite shooting 41.1 percent on 3.7 efforts from deep - while also displaying elements of his trademarked midrange game that Suns fans love - there just wasn't enough there for other teams to take him. This is even more true when you consider we were only a year removed from Roy Hibbert being named an All-Star and being runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
More traditional centers still had real value, which partly explains why Jahlil Okafor (third), Willie Cauley-Stein (sixth) and even Frank Kaminsky (ninth) were taken ahead of Book. Had coach Calipari used him more though, the case the player would have built would surely have become undeniable at that point.
It is almost ironic that this "super role player" version of Booker that was saw glimpses of in college would also help propel Team USA to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024. When you're getting less game time than Trey Lyles and another former Sun in Tyler Ulis - no shade on the Harrison twins they were nice in college - it is not hard to see why. Thank you John Calipari.