TLdR: Book has improved ever year, he's been our franchise player for over a half decade and we've made the playoffs twice which culminated in one Finals appearance. Book is now eligible for a 4yr $211m supermax extension this offseason which will look something like this:
2022-2023 (age 26): $33.8m
2023-2024 (age 27): $36.0m (final year of his current rookie max extension)
2024-2025 (age 28): $47.1m (beginning of the super max & correct me if I'm wrong but also the start of the new TV deal $$$)
2025-2026 (age 29): $50.9m
2026-2027 (age 30): $54.7m
2027-2028 (age 31): $58.5m
So the question is: do we sign Devin Booker to a supermax extension?
Year after year since coming into the league as a skinny but confident 18 year old, he's improved different parts of his game but just to do a recap, here's what it looked like:
2015-2016 - Rookie season:
Season average: 13.8pt / 2.5rb / 2.6ast / 0.6stl / 0.3blk / 2.1TO / 27.7mpg
Shooting splits: .423 overall/ .343 from 3 / .464 from 2 / .840 from the line / .535TS%
Season highlights: All Rookie First Team, 4th in ROY voting
Drafted as an 18 year old and made his debut two days shy of turning 18. Had an uneventful and quite frankly, uninspiring end to 2015 averaging just over 5pts on pretty good shooting splits in about 14mpg off the bench. Then Boxing Days rolls around and he starts to see a bigger role, he gets more minutes, more FGA's and average almost 18/3/4 the rest of the way. He ended the season with fairly poor efficiency but also started 51 games, put up six 30+pt performances and you could see the beginnings of a big time scorer in the NBA.
Final thoughts: By the end of his rookie season, he was looking like a solid promising young scorer in the NBA albeit on terrible efficiency. Can he cement himself as a legit NBA volume scorer?
2016-2017 - Sophomore season:
Season average: 22.1pt / 3.2rb / 3.4ast / 0.9stl / 0.3blk / 3.1TO / 35.0mpg
Shooting splits: .423 overall/ .363 from 3 / .447 from 2 / .832 from the line / .531TS%
Season highlights: 70PT game
Book picks up right where he ended his rookie season by being a 20+ppg scorer in the NBA alongside running mate Eric Bledsoe and fellow young players in TJ Warren, Alex Len, rookies Chriss, Bender and an assortment of other guys. Being the #1 scorer on the Suns, he was now on more and more scouting reports, defenses are focused on him and he'll see his scoring go up but efficiency stay in the dumps. While he continued to build his name as big time scorer recording 14 30+pt performance including the now legendary 70pt game in a losing effort to Boston, he also earned himself a reputation as a bit of an empty stat guy as we were losing more games than winning in those 30+pt efforts.
Final thoughts: He's proven he's an NBA player, a very potent scorer and now the question is whether he can work on his efficiency while continuing to be that volume scorer?
2017-2018 - Third season:
Season average: 24.9pt / 4.5rb / 4.7ast / 0.9stl / 0.3blk / 3.6TO / 34.5mpg
Shooting splits: .432 overall/ .383 from 3 / .460 from 2 / .878 from the line / .561TS%
Season highlights: Top 10 in scoring, 46pts on Philly
After the addition of Josh Jackson and Book's mate Tyler Ulis, the Suns were looking like a promising young team led by Booker but after only 3 games, in which one was a 48pt beatdown at the hands on Portland followed by a 42pt spanking by the Clippers within the span of 3 days, Earl Watson got the boot and we got the infamous "I don't wanna be here" tweet from Bledsoe who was soon shipped out. Despite all that drama so early on in the season, Book was now poised to be the clear franchise player. This season to me was his break out year despite the 70pt game in his previous season as he was more consistent with his scoring and more importantly, he was now league average in efficiency while averaging close to 25ppg for the season which was good enough for 10th in the league in scoring. The added wrinkle to his game was his passing which he continued to work on and was a +1.3APG from the previous season. Unfortunately, it did not result in any improvements in wins as we finished the season with only 21 wins.
Final thoughts: He has now cemented himself as one of the top scorers while answering the efficiency questions a lot of fans and media had. Now that he's league average, can he take his offensive skillset to another level?
2018-2019 - Fourth season:
Season average: 26.6pt / 4.1rb / 6.8ast / 0.9stl / 0.2blk / 4.1TO / 35.0mpg
Shooting splits: .467 overall/ .326 from 3 / .536 from 2 / .866 from the line / .584TS%
Season highlights: #7 in scoring, #14 in assists, 59pts on Utah, 50pts on Washington, 48/11 on Memphis
After the 2018 draft where the Suns took DeAndre Ayton with the #1 pick and straight up highway robbed Philly for Mikal Bridges, addition of new HC Igor Kokoskov and dumb signing of Ariza, the Suns had high hopes that would ultimately end in one of the worst season's in franchise history. With no PG in the backcourt to start games, we saw the birth of the infamous Point Book. Book was now looking like a homeless man's James Harden, locking himself in as #7 in the league in scoring while averaging almost 7APG which was a considerable +2.1apg from the season before. This was also the beginning of some All-Star discussion proving he's now on the cusp of being one of the top 25 players in the league.
Final thoughts: Book had now improved an important aspect of his game and addressed aspects of his weaknesses in every season he's been in the NBA and was ready to be an all-star level player.
2019 -2020 - Fifth season:
Season average: 26.6pt / 4.2rb / 6.5ast / 0.7stl / 0.3blk / 3.8TO / 35.9mpg
Shooting splits: .489 overall/ .354 from 3 / .549 from 2 / .919 from the line / .616TS%
Season highlights: #10 in scoring, #20 in assists, #3 in TS% among top 10 scorers, NBA All-Star, All-Seeding Games 1st Team, 8-0 Bubble
Coming fresh off an offseason where he signed a 5 year max extension with the Suns, this was the season where I think Book became a legit player and not just an empty stat chucker in the eyes of the NBA media and casual/hardcore fans alike. With elite efficiency to go with his elite scoring, assist numbers and now his 5 new HC in 5 seasons, Book was finally seeing the highest win totals of his career while continuing work on his game as a playmaker and scorer. His new PG running mate in Rubio also made things easier for him which without a doubt helped his with efficiency. While his first All-Star selection was big time for him and for the Suns, which haven't had a representative at the ASG since Steve Nash in 2012, the highlight for Suns fans and likely Book was going 8-0 in the Bubble and giving ourselves an opportunity to make the post-season for the first time in Book's career.
Final thoughts:All-Star, check. Good coaching, check. 8 game win streak, check. The foundations of a winning team, check
2020 - 2021 - Sixth season:
Season average: 25.6pt / 4.2rb / 4.3ast / 0.8stl / 0.2blk / 3.1TO / 33.9mpg
Shooting splits: .484 overall/ .340 from 3 / .543 from 2 / .867 from the line / .587TS%
Season highlights: #13 in scoring, 2nd All-star selection, 3x Player of the week, 1x Player of the Month, 1st playoff appearance
James Jones went all in before this season and traded away Rubio and OG ValleyBoy Kelly Oubre for future HOF'er Chris Paul. Off the back of the big offseason, Book experienced not just his first winning season in the NBA but winning 51 games which was good enough for a top 2 playoff berth, also a Booker first. While the regular season a return to the winning Phoenix Suns ways, it wasn't until the playoffs did the Suns really get put on the map. Through 22 playoff games, Book averaged 27.3pts, 5.6rbs, 4.5ast and recorded four 40+pt performances, including a 40pt triple double and a 47pt game to boot the Lakers out of the playoffs. It was overall a magical run to the Finals which didn't eventuate in a title but gave the young core of players a taste of highest levels of basketball.
Final thoughts: Third Finals appearance for the Phoenix Suns franchise led by the duo of CP3 and, our very own, Devin Booker.
20121-2022 - Seventh season:
Season average: 26.8pt / 5.0rb / 4.8ast / 1.1stl / 0.4blk / 2.4TO / 34.5mpg
Shooting splits: .466 overall/ .383 from 3 / .508 from 2 / .868 from the line / .576TS%
Season highlights: #8 in scoring, First Team All-NBA selection, 3rd consecutive All-star selection, 3x Player of the week
With a Final appearance in his back pocket, the expectations on the team and Book's shoulders were higher than ever. Anything short of a WCF appearance would have been a failure considering throughout the regular season and heading into the playoffs, the Suns were a title favourite. Statically, this may have been Book's best season. Career high in points, rebounds, matching a career high in 3P% and his second lowest TO average since his rookie season. By most measures, Book had an incredible season as a Phoenix Sun as he continued to be an elite scorer which backing up the 2021 season with further improvement to his defence.
Unfortunately, the regular season was the last bit of positive for Book as we entered the playoffs as the favourite but exiting in the 2nd round. From a playoff performance perspective, it was considerable let down. Book started well in the first two games and even managed to put up 31pts before leaving the game with a hamstring injury after less than 25min of playing time. Book ended up missing 3 games and he came back to play every game in the Dallas series. Overall, Book had a fairly average series against Dallas statistically but all of that was overshadowed by a total choke job in the pivotal G7 where he did not score a single field goal until 5min left in the 3rd quarter but by that time the Suns were down a pretty embarrassing 38pts.
Final thoughts: As we head into the offseason earlier than we had hoped, a lot of decisions will be made by the front office, in particular the DA extension. However, with the All-NBA selection, Book is also eligible for a supermax extension.
