The Phoenix Suns have enjoyed an excellent 6-1 start to the 2024-25 NBA season, and Devin Booker as expected has been a large part of that early success. Kevin Durant may have shot out of the blocks early with his scoring exploits, but Booker has now warmed up.
His impact was recently rewarded with a Western Conference Player of the Week win - his 10th such occasion being bestowed with this title - while the 36.6 minutes per game he's posted early in the campaign is actually a career high. Couple that with 24.7 points, and the going is good right now for Booker.
So good in fact that he is even masking this ugly shooting stat.
It is no secret that Suns' head coach Mike Budenholzer wants his team shooting more 3-pointers than last season, and they're off to a good start in that regard. Their 39 attempts each night around seven more than they mustered a season ago, with even center Jusuf Nurkic getting in on the act.
He hasn't converted nearly enough of these shots yet, but taking 2.7 when he took basically none throughout his career up to this point is a massive shift. Booker has been no different - he has the greenest of lights - and his eight attempts so far each night also represent a career high.
What has been less impressive though is the 35.7 percent of these that he's managed to make. Worse than that, Booker is currently mired in a 2-of-16 slump from downtown, not that he himself looks worried about it. He must be doing something right to get that Player of the Week award, and in actual fact he's doing a lot right for the Suns during this hot start.
"I've just got to make shots."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 5, 2024
Devin Booker as he's 2-of-16 from 3 in the last two games.
Said he likes the looks he's getting, talked about adjusting to minutes and finding a rhythm, but said that's no excuse. It's still about making shots. #Suns pic.twitter.com/VnIirZYQuc
The fact Booker is taking as many of these shots as he has so far also bodes well for the team as a whole - because if he can get closer to the 40 percent range - the Suns are going to take another step forward offensively. As it is they haven't even needed their cornerstone to be a long-range threat, but that is undoubtedly coming at some point this season.
Booker has also managed to lean into the 3-point revolution while also getting to the line 7.9 times per game. Another career high and one that puts the shooting slump from deep into perspective. He's not just settling for looks from deep that aren't going in, Booker is mixing up his offensive game in order to ensure he's always piling up points for this group. He's making other, difficult shots too.
So if making 35.7 percent of his 3-pointers this season - ironically the exact number he has averaged throughout his career to date - is as bad as it gets for Booker offensively, then his team are still going to be in excellent shape. He will shoot himself out of this slump, but being recognized league wide for his play despite this just goes to show what a superstar Booker is in the NBA.