Teammates of Devin Booker were asked what they thought of his 35 point performance in Friday’s victory in San Antonio. Their answers were the same.
Republic of Arizona
Devin Booker is in a win-win situation regardless of how the suns play.
The management of the team will take more blame than him if Phoenix continues to lose.
After all, the Suns enlisted Dragan Bender in 2016, have not yet drawn Luka Doncic or Trae Young to deal with the guards issue in 2018, and have had five coaches in Booker’s five years with the team.
If Phoenix becomes a playoff team, Booker will get a great deal of credit for bringing the Suns back in the post season after the franchise crashed with the worst league record in 2017-18 at 21-61 and it was even worse. next season at 19 -63.
This is my initial opinion on ESPN’s “First Take” that asks the question Tuesday if Booker is wasting his best years in Phoenix.
The Suns (26-39) will enter the resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season a long shot to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2010. They are six games from the eighth and final playoff spot with eight “seeding” games to play.
Their best bet is to enter four games of the eighth place team as the ninth place team to force a game tournament and then go 2-0 against that team.
This all seems like a high order, especially with Kelly Oubre Jr. who is said to have opted for an injury following a knee surgery on March 3. So Booker will have fun in Orlando in Phoenix to also have the chance to make the playoffs this season.
If the Suns do it somehow, Booker will receive credit credits. Otherwise, the odds were still against them, right?
The booker season is already successful. He became an all-star for the first time with an average of 26.1 points with 48.7% shots and 6.6 assists.
A look back at the Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker who is part of an historic NBA star weekend celebrating the life of his late idol, the late Kobe Bryant.
The Republic | azcentral.com
It has brought Phoenix more wins this season than it has had in its first four seasons with the team and has been in good health for the most part this season.
So think about it. If Phoenix’s losing ways had been Booker’s fault, ESPN wouldn’t have asked if he was wasting his best years with the team.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith opened his comments on Tuesday saying he “doesn’t trust management,” that is team owner Robert Sarver.
“I’m not sold,” said Smith.
Smith later said, “If your owner is such a big question mark, it’s a problem.”
Smith is impressed with the hiring of Monty Williams, which I said was Phoenix’s best move in the last season. He likes the positive side of Oubre Jr. and gave my compliments to Deandre Ayton, Sun’s best choice in the 2018 draft that included Doncic and Young.
“The blow against (Ayton) is that it’s not Luka Doncic or Trae Young,” said Smith.
Critics asked Ayton to live up to the best choice in the draft. Doing an average of a double double (19 ppg., 12 rpg.) Is more than solid for a second consecutive season, but the argument is that Ayton must raise his level for Phoenix to reach the next level.
The narrative is that Booker is doing more than enough. Everyone else has to play better.
Booker is in the first year of his five-year contract, maximum $ 158 million, after Phoenix brought him with the thirteenth overall choice in the 2015 draft. Players enrolled outside the top 10 should not become a franchise player .
Booker became one for a franchise that fell from being one of the league’s elites. It is not to blame for the fall of Phoenix, he has received credit for the improvement of the team this season, but the Sun are ready to put together a list of Bookers who can reach the playoffs.
Booker will still be in his 20s when he should become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. Smith is already calling his NBA team, the New York Knicks, to trade Booker; their team president, Leon Rose, was Booker’s agent.
If Phoenix continues to lose, he will have reason to walk and will not take on the criticisms because the Sun will be seen as having failed to build a playoff team.
In turn, Booker will get a share of the credit from the lions if the Suns become championship contenders again with him leading the franchise.
Either way, it’s an advantageous solution for Booker.
Do you have an opinion on the current state of the suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter on @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.
