The Phoenix Suns think that they have a superstar. The Phoenix Suns do not have a superstar. And the longer that dissonance is allowed to continue, the worse it will be for the Suns' long-term future.
There is no need to rehash the sins of the past for the Suns. Trading for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal was a home run swing that did not work out. The team cannot go back and change that - but they do need to decide the best way forward. Durant and Beal are gone - but Devin Booker remains. Durant and Booker are problems of the past; Booker is a problem of the present.
This season felt like found money. Dillon Brooks gave the roster a defensive tenacity they were missing, Colin Gillespie was a massive discovery at point guard, and they went from having zero useful centers to having three. After missing the playoffs with Booker, Durant and Beal, the team won 45 games and made the Big Show this year.
Things did not go particularly well once they got there, in part because they had to face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. After a four-game sweep, the Suns are forced to reckon with where they are as a team. What does a path forward look like?
If the Suns had a superstar player, the kind who can truly elevate a team and go toe-to-toe with other superstars in the playoffs, then continuing to build the most competitive team possible makes sense. Find the right mix of players around that star, and perhaps Phoenix can make some noise in the playoffs.
Devin Booker is not a superstar
Unfortunately, the Suns do not have a superstar player. Devin Booker is a really good player; he averaged 26.1 points per game this season, dished six assists as a part-time point guard, and was the best player on a playoff team. He made the All-Star Team in a star-laden Western Conference. He is good!
He is not great. He is not elite. He is not special in the way that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Anthony Edwards or Cade Cunningham are. They have proven capable of being on that level of consistently carrying a team. They do it all for their teams, and are good enough to drive high-level offense for really good teams.
Booker is not. There was a time when it looked like he could be, when he peaked in 2021-22 and looked like a rising superstar. But that ship sailed, and Booker's efficiency has dropped back down below the level required of being that kind of star.
This season, Devin Booker averaged 26 points, but he did so shooting just 33 percent from deep and 45.6 percent overall. 143 players took at least 10 shots per game this season; Booker ranked 121st in effective field goal percentage. That's not good enough.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, Anthony Edwards, Austin Reaves, Donovan Mitchell and Luka Doncic all ranked in the top 31. Each has different games, but they are all perimeter creators who led their teams by scoring efficiently. Booker is not that guy.
The Suns think Booker is a star
Yet the Suns think that he is that guy. They are happily paying him like that guy, with Booker owed $250 million over the next four seasons. Only SGA and Jayson Tatum are in line to make more money in 2029-30. Paying one player that much money is only worth it if he is a superstar; Booker is not.
Will Phoenix see the reality of their situation? Will they look to move off of Booker this summer and do a roster reset? It's unlikely. Mat Ishbia wants to win. Booker will help the Suns win 35-45 games each season. But he won't help them win a championship.
If he could be the No. 3? Yeah, that team could win a championship. But the Suns don't have a path to getting the No. 1 and No. 2, not with their draft picks owed for years and a collection of young players whose ceilings top out as mid-tier starters. Keeping Booker will prevent them from putting a championship team on the court for a very long time.
The Suns don't believe it. Suns fans will have a hard time swallowing it. Booker is beloved by his team and his city - and rightfully so. But his scoring totals and lingering reputation make it seem like he is a star, a Top 10 player in the league, the guy you build winning teams around.
He is not. And the sooner the Suns realize that and find a solution to that problem, the better.
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