There is no denying the fact that the Phoenix Suns have been an unmitigated disaster this season at 20-58. They had the dark cloud of the Markieff Morris situation hanging over their head until the trade deadline, they suffered major injuries to many key pieces including Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Tyson Chandler and T.J. Warren, and have generally been a mess ever since experimenting with three point guards and then panicking and trading two of them (Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas) just to get another one (Brandon Knight) at the 2015 NBA trade deadline.
There have been very few positives to come out of this season, but the number one thing Suns fans should take away from the 2015-16 season is that 19-year-old rookie Devin Booker is your shooting guard of the future and may also be a future superstar.
Ever since the Suns season went in shambles, Booker has been given the opportunity to grow as an NBA player and he has taken the ball and ran with it.
During the month of March, Booker averaged 22.4 points, 4.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game, albeit on surprisingly just under 30% from downtown.
He has become the go to guy and focal point of the Suns offense at the age of 19 and seems to have the maturity and poise of a veteran already (take notes D’Angelo Russell).
Devin Booker may not be a great NBA athlete but he is an incredibly savvy and crafty offense player that has shown the ability to run and pick and roll. He creates opportunities for others in addition to being a scorer who can catch and shoot or create his own shot.
The two best shooting guards the NBA has seen since Michael Jordan haven’t been shy about their belief in his potential after playing against Booker.
“I was impressed with him the first time we played him, and I’m very impressed tonight,” said Dwayne Wade after the Suns and Heat game in Miami a few weeks back. “When you’ve got a young guy going through a tough season like that, he’s just out there having fun. He’s out there getting better, and he’s one of the future [top] two-guards in this league.”
Devin Booker had 34 points on 11-for-21 shooting against the Heat that night.
The Black Mamba himself showered Booker with praise as well.
“I think he’s fantastic,” Bryant said. “I think he has the right attitude. He has the right competitive spirit. I think his footwork is extremely sound. His fundamentals are extremely sound. Now, it’s just about him figuring out exactly what his game is and then he can go to that every single night and then make counters off of it but he has the skills.”
Devin Booker had 28 points and seven assists in the Suns victory over the Lakers in Kobe’s last game in Phoenix.
He is averaging 13.7 points, 2.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds for the season, but he has developed at an alarming rate since January when his minutes began to increase as he has averaged about 18-3-3 in that span.
Looking back on the past 20 years or so since Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant started the trend of high school players jumping to the NBA, there have been only five players, in my estimation, to have played at this level for this length of time at the age of 19 for an entire season.
LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving.
That is pretty incredible company, and something Suns fans should be very excited about.
Booker does not possess the freak athleticism of LeBron or Kobe, or the size of Carmelo or Durant, but he seems to have a great work ethic and a great head on his shoulders.
Building around Booker the Suns could go into the 2016 draft and get the likes of Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram. If that happens it may not be long before the Suns can play their way back to NBA relevance and the top tier of the western conference.
