What is Devin Booker's Ceiling?

[baldur]

Not nearly as high as everyone thinks. He doesn't look likely to ever be an adequate defender. And I'm not sure he's skilled enough to be a kyrie/kemba/lillard type offensive player.

He needs to convert to PG to become less of a defensive liability.

Top 50-75 player for a few years is probably his ceiling but Im not sure he ever cracks top 100.

This could be the worst post in realgm 2018.

He has plenty of candidates for that title.

except this bold part he was doing very well actually. it is sometimes hard to tell the difference if this guy is serious or trolling. his most posts consist of both.

[Warriorfan]

Son of an NBA player and attending Kentucky I think he came with a much higher floor than most players and has a game much developed than his age so his ceiling isn't much higher.

I'd say top 40 player now at best top 20. Perfect #2 guy on a contender.

[ChiTownHero1992]

Booker will be good as he gets older, he is great now already but he will continue on. I don't know why but he reminds me of Reggie Miller in a sense that if he never truly gets help on PHX he could lead a playoff team in 2-3 years to many runs but never really do much besides that.

[M4P]

This could be the worst post in realgm 2018.

He has plenty of candidates for that title.

except this bold part he was doing very well actually. it is sometimes hard to tell the difference if this guy is serious or trolling. his most posts consist of both.

refer to sig

[Mike87]

I can't remember too many 21 year olds who could score like booker. It's always a good sign when someone noticeably improves year after year, which he has done so far. He can be an elite scorer in this league for years and depending on how his defense comes along he can be a top 10 or higher player in his prime.

[HotelVitale]

Right now he looks like he's still a level beneath the Kyrie/Lillard types who can carry an offense and win games, given that he can't quite initiate as well as them and take over down the stretch. He's a little streaky/inconsistent for that, but I'd bet a decent amt of money on him getting there in a year or two.

I probably wouldn't bet on him getting above that level but it could happen if he develops top notch court awareness/IQ and ups his consistency.

[The_Hater]

Not nearly as high as everyone thinks. He doesn't look likely to ever be an adequate defender. And I'm not sure he's skilled enough to be a kyrie/kemba/lillard type offensive player.

He needs to convert to PG to become less of a defensive liability.

Top 50-75 player for a few years is probably his ceiling but Im not sure he ever cracks top 100.

While I agree with your opening statement, to claim he’s not currently a top 100 player is somewhat ridiculous. 25.0 ppg on above average efficiency is worth something and not easy to find in an NBA player, especially with defense keying on you. Not being a black hole is another as he’s become a greatly improved facilitator this season. He’s a top 50 player at worst right now and you don’t even have that as his projected peak.

Melo was never an adequate defender and he was a top 10 player at his peak. Lillard, Irving, Thomas, Derozan, Love. There have been lots of utterly terrible defenders who have become top 30 players or better. You can hide one poor perimeter defender and still be a contender.

[FNQ]

He's getting 25/4/4 on elite efficiency on an awful team. I think he's 21.

What's his ceiling? Can he be a top 10 player? Top 20? MVP Candidate? All NBA?

He's got a nice jumper, is a good athlete with great size and an awesome first step, good body control, etc. He's also a potentially great passer if you pay attention

57% TS is not elite efficiency.

He's trending well, that's for sure. But the question, as is with all good looking scorers on bad teams, is whether or not he can maintain his positive impact if/when the team starts winning. There's no reason to bet against him at this time, and I think he could become a Klay Thompson-esque impact player with less defense but more playmaking.

I doubt the MVP candidate stuff unless his playmaking gets taken to another level.

But right now he's an above average efficiency player playing on a low pressure team that isn't winning, so there's a lot still to question. But his spike in efficiency this year has to be a welcome sight to Suns fans

Another comp I really like: What Eric Gordon was supposed to be

[Mylie10]

I still think he should move to PG. He's got a size advantage there and hes got good enough handles and passing ability to get it done.

[The_Hater]

He's getting 25/4/4 on elite efficiency on an awful team. I think he's 21.

What's his ceiling? Can he be a top 10 player? Top 20? MVP Candidate? All NBA?

He's got a nice jumper, is a good athlete with great size and an awesome first step, good body control, etc. He's also a potentially great passer if you pay attention

57% TS is not elite efficiency.

It’s not, but it’s above average and it’s improved considerably over last season. Plus he’s still only 21 years old.

Booker is trending the right direction but seems to be taking a lot of flak for playing on a terrible team when he’s improved quite a bit from his age 20 season.

[2Mas]

Never happen of course, but Suns FO calls the Hornets and says..."We'll trade you Devin Booker for Kemba Walker straight up". Charlotte FO calls HoopsMalone and says..."Can we trade Kemba Walker for Devin Booker? It's your call buddy"

Then you say to the Hornets FO- "_____ __________ ______"

We're waiting, for the record

RIght now they are world's apart. Booker wouldn't be in the same hemisphere as Kemba Walker who is a top ~25 player in the league.

There's not a ton of context so I'll just say for the next 4 years since that's a decent estimate of contract length I'd take Kemba. His knees are deteriorating and Kemba is a player who depends a lot of athleticism so I'll concede it's possible that Booker could be the better player in 4-5 years. But Kemba has such a stranglehold over the next 2-3 that banking those Kemba years now just makes a lot more sense.

Kemba is easily the better offensive AND defensive player.

So if I understand you correctly, you would tell the the Hornets to say "no we will pass" on a straight Walker for Booker trade tomorrow.

Correct?

Don't feed into his bait man.

We all know he's talking nonsense. & i really enjoy both these players. I think they're close right now. I could see the argument for each. But if you were a GM, obviously the pick is Booker. Crazy to say no. But a pick up game right now? I can see the debate each way. That first post he did though bout making him a pg to limit his defensive issues & what not is crazy talk lol.

[Revived]

He's getting 25/4/4 on elite efficiency on an awful team. I think he's 21.

What's his ceiling? Can he be a top 10 player? Top 20? MVP Candidate? All NBA?

He's got a nice jumper, is a good athlete with great size and an awesome first step, good body control, etc. He's also a potentially great passer if you pay attention

57% TS is not elite efficiency.

It’s much higher than Paul George, Russel Westbrook, Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, John Wall and LaMarcus Alrdige‘s TS%.

And those are all guys who were voted into the All Star game.

[bwgood77]

He's getting 25/4/4 on elite efficiency on an awful team. I think he's 21.

What's his ceiling? Can he be a top 10 player? Top 20? MVP Candidate? All NBA?

He's got a nice jumper, is a good athlete with great size and an awesome first step, good body control, etc. He's also a potentially great passer if you pay attention

57% TS is not elite efficiency.

It’s not, but it’s above average and it’s improved considerably over last season. Plus he’s still only 21 years old.

Booker is trending the right direction but seems to be taking a lot of flak for playing on a terrible team when he’s improved quite a bit from his age 20 season.

It's not elite, but at 21, it's better than many good shooters at that age. Here is a comparison of TS% between KD, Curry, Klay and Booker at 21.

http://bkref.com/tiny/aMNXT

[FNQ]

He's getting 25/4/4 on elite efficiency on an awful team. I think he's 21.

What's his ceiling? Can he be a top 10 player? Top 20? MVP Candidate? All NBA?

He's got a nice jumper, is a good athlete with great size and an awesome first step, good body control, etc. He's also a potentially great passer if you pay attention

57% TS is not elite efficiency.

It’s much higher than Paul George, Russel Westbrook, Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, John Wall and LaMarcus Alrdige‘s TS%.

And those are all guys who were voted into the All Star game.

I mean it's true, but that still doesnt make it elite efficiency. I've gotten two responses that have cut out all the praise.. but he's not an elite efficiency player right now. If he was, he'd be a superstar already at 25/4/4.

But on a side note, I think you listed my all-overrated team right there, sans Westbrook. And especially guys like Wall and Aldridge, who people are finally coming around on as just not that great

[bwgood77]

He's getting 25/4/4 on elite efficiency on an awful team. I think he's 21.

What's his ceiling? Can he be a top 10 player? Top 20? MVP Candidate? All NBA?

He's got a nice jumper, is a good athlete with great size and an awesome first step, good body control, etc. He's also a potentially great passer if you pay attention

57% TS is not elite efficiency.

It’s much higher than Paul George, Russel Westbrook, Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, John Wall and LaMarcus Alrdige‘s TS%.

And those are all guys who were voted into the All Star game.

Most of those guys do a lot of other things better. Beal is somewhat similar but has better D and is in the east.

[Revived]

RIght now they are world's apart. Booker wouldn't be in the same hemisphere as Kemba Walker who is a top ~25 player in the league.

There's not a ton of context so I'll just say for the next 4 years since that's a decent estimate of contract length I'd take Kemba. His knees are deteriorating and Kemba is a player who depends a lot of athleticism so I'll concede it's possible that Booker could be the better player in 4-5 years. But Kemba has such a stranglehold over the next 2-3 that banking those Kemba years now just makes a lot more sense.

Kemba is easily the better offensive AND defensive player.

So if I understand you correctly, you would tell the the Hornets to say "no we will pass" on a straight Walker for Booker trade tomorrow.

Correct?

Don't feed into his bait man.

We all know he's talking nonsense. & i really enjoy both these players. I think they're close right now. I could see the argument for each. But if you were a GM, obviously the pick is Booker. Crazy to say no. But a pick up game right now? I can see the debate each way. That first post he did though bout making him a pg to limit his defensive issues & what not is crazy talk lol.

Yeah not sure why HoopsMalone doesn’t like Booker but it was said in another thread that he prefers Frank Kaminsky overall as a player over Devin Booker. That itself takes some credibility away as it sounds almost as ridiculous as preferring Carmelo Anthony over say, Kawhi Leonard or something.

[MaxRider]

SG version of Curry

[12footrim]

He's getting 25/4/4 on elite efficiency on an awful team. I think he's 21.

What's his ceiling? Can he be a top 10 player? Top 20? MVP Candidate? All NBA?

He's got a nice jumper, is a good athlete with great size and an awesome first step, good body control, etc. He's also a potentially great passer if you pay attention

19.1 PER, .571 true shooting isn't Elite efficiency

[Throwback24]

If he improves his defense, Ray Allen (with a higher usage rate).

He's developed so many ingrained bad habits I don't ever think he'll improve his defense or shot selection unless something magical happens in Phoenix.

He's an absolute hog and the pairing with Warren hurts my eyes.

[PhilBlackson]

They should try to mold him into something like Harden. Forget about Ulis, Knight or whatever other useless PG they have. Let Booker bring up the ball n immediately put pressure on the defence to guard him n Jackson can be a secondary decision maker as a SG.

If they can get Doncic or Porter Jr it should help them tremendously as well because right now Jackson n Warren's lack of 3pt shooting kills this scheme but its what I think they should aim for moving forward and I'd see if I could package Warren & Chriss for good quality stretch 4 or solid rebounding 5 if they think Bender can fulfill the 4. Imo they need a fresh attitude in the locker room, I don't think Chriss n Jackson are a good combination in one. Also if they could package the MIL & MIA picks to move up n grab Mikal Bridges they could really finally start turning it around imo but I know that's a lot of "if" lol but it starts with making him a Harden like "PG".