Booker Discussion, news and highlights

[bwgood77]

From ESPN

Spoiler:

1. Ben Simmons | PG | 76ers

Percentage of votes: 100

Simmons was left tweeting eye-roll GIFs in February after being snubbed for a spot in the 2018 All-Star Game, including when East point guards Goran Dragic and Kemba Walker were named injury replacements over him. Simmons, who earned Rookie of the Year honors while averaging 15.8 points, 8.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game, can confidently keep the third weekend of February clear if he continues to put up triple-doubles with regularity. -- Chris Forsberg

2. Donovan Mitchell | G | Jazz

Percentage of votes: 89.5

Mitchell already enjoyed a taste of All-Star Weekend by winning the Slam Dunk Contest last season. But it's what he did after the All-Star break that lands him high on this list. Mitchell averaged 22.5 points per game after the break last season and, more impressively, the Jazz owned a net rating of plus-15.2 points per 100 possessions with Mitchell on the court during that span (skyrocketing from plus-2 prior to the All-Star break). Mitchell's emergence helped the Jazz surge to the fifth seed in the West. -- Forsberg

3. Nikola Jokic | C | Nuggets

Percentage of votes: 84.2

ADVERTISEMENT

Jokic swam in a sea of All-Stars while finishing 10th in ESPN's offensive real plus-minus last season. In fact, he sat immediately ahead of an All-Star quintet of Russell Westbrook, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan. Jokic averaged 18.5 points per game while shooting 39.6 percent beyond the 3-point arc, all while adding 10.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. He was rewarded with a max contract this summer and, even in a loaded West, could soon add an All-Star berth to his resume. -- Forsberg

4. Jayson Tatum | F | Celtics

Percentage of votes: 83.3

Last we saw Tatum on an NBA court, he was dunking on LeBron James and nearly willing the shorthanded Celtics to the NBA Finals. If the Celtics ease All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward back from injury, it might allow Tatum an opportunity to further assert himself as a star in the making. Tatum, only 20 years old, averaged 18.5 points per game during the Celtics' playoff surge. -- Forsberg

5. Rudy Gobert | C | Jazz

Percentage of votes: 68.4

A pair of knee injuries in the first half of the 2017-18 season denied Gobert a chance to earn his first All-Star nod. But the Jazz went 30-8 after Gobert returned and the 7-foot-1 big man earned Defensive Player of the Year honors despite missing 26 games overall. The Jazz owned a defensive rating of 97.7 with Gobert on the court last season and finished second overall in the NBA in defensive rating (just 0.1 points behind league-leading Boston). -- Forsberg

6. Jaylen Brown | SG | Celtics

Percentage of votes: 55.6

The 21-year-old Brown took his play to another level in the 2018 playoffs, averaging 18 points per game while teaming with Tatum to push the Celtics to the cusp of the NBA Finals. Celtics fans were so enamored with Brown's progress that many scoffed at the notion of including him in any potential package when the Spurs were fielding offers for Kawhi Leonard. Brown's offensive opportunities might be more limited with the return of Irving and Hayward, but his two-way impact could earn him All-Star chatter if Boston is the East's top dog with LeBron James now out West. -- Forsberg

Also receiving votes: Khris Middleton 38.9 percent; Devin Booker 36.8; Clint Capela 36.8; CJ McCollum 31.6; Aaron Gordon 27.8; Myles Turner 16.7; Brandon Ingram 10.5; Eric Gordon 10.5.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24303221/nba-first-all-star-predictions-espn-summer-forecast

[lilfishi22]

I think that's about right. The West is tough with great wings lie your PG's, Butler's, million point guards, Lebron now etc. It would be hard for Booker to get in unless our team as a whole shows meaningful improvement in the W-L column

[bwgood77]

I think that's about right. The West is tough with great wings lie your PG's, Butler's, million point guards, Lebron now etc. It would be hard for Booker to get in unless our team as a whole shows meaningful improvement in the W-L column

Simmons is pretty much a sure thing, particularly with the west being easier and no LeBron. Kawhi should make it of course too, but DeRozan being gone will lose a spot. It will be interesting with Boston and Hayward coming back. Doesn't seem like Brown should make it over him at all. They could get 3 or maybe 4 all stars though with Kyrie, Horford, Hayward and Tatum.

As for the west, it's crazy with Gobert and Jokic. They should definitely be all stars and I think are more deserving than Mitchell, but it's tougher for centers. However, Cousins will probably have a hard time making it, so that opens a spot.

[Waylay13]

I think that's about right. The West is tough with great wings lie your PG's, Butler's, million point guards, Lebron now etc. It would be hard for Booker to get in unless our team as a whole shows meaningful improvement in the W-L column

Simmons is pretty much a sure thing, particularly with the west being easier and no LeBron. Kawhi should make it of course too, but DeRozan being gone will lose a spot. It will be interesting with Boston and Hayward coming back. Doesn't seem like Brown should make it over him at all. They could get 3 or maybe 4 all stars though with Kyrie, Horford, Hayward and Tatum.

As for the west, it's crazy with Gobert and Jokic. They should definitely be all stars and I think are more deserving than Mitchell, but it's tougher for centers. However, Cousins will probably have a hard time making it, so that opens a spot.

Hayward spends almost of his time at small forward while Brown is at shooting guard. I think the player who is going to feel the most impact from Hayward coming is Tatum who got his time at small forward.

[bwgood77]

I think that's about right. The West is tough with great wings lie your PG's, Butler's, million point guards, Lebron now etc. It would be hard for Booker to get in unless our team as a whole shows meaningful improvement in the W-L column

Simmons is pretty much a sure thing, particularly with the west being easier and no LeBron. Kawhi should make it of course too, but DeRozan being gone will lose a spot. It will be interesting with Boston and Hayward coming back. Doesn't seem like Brown should make it over him at all. They could get 3 or maybe 4 all stars though with Kyrie, Horford, Hayward and Tatum.

As for the west, it's crazy with Gobert and Jokic. They should definitely be all stars and I think are more deserving than Mitchell, but it's tougher for centers. However, Cousins will probably have a hard time making it, so that opens a spot.

Hayward spends almost of his time at small forward while Brown is at shooting guard. I think the player who is going to feel the most impact from Hayward coming is Tatum who got his time at small forward.

I think Tatum will play a lot of 4, as Baynes usually only plays about 20 minutes, and then will slide to 3 when Hayward rests (and I assume they won't give Hayward a ton of minutes). I think Morris' time will be cut the most barring more injuries.

[stoo]

https://www.nba.com/suns/blog/devin-booker-listed-2018-mvp-sleeper-ringer#

[wco81]

Another Ringer piece about whether Book will make people get over the “shock” of the $158 million extension.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/8/13/17681826/are-we-sure-devin-booker-franchise-player-phoenix-suns

[WeekapaugGroove]

Fair article and it's cool the Ringer actually writes about the Suns. I feel like any other national media entity only brings them up to clown them. Booker absolutely needs to continue to improve to earn his big pay day but frankly that's true of 90% of guys who get a big second contract.

[lilfishi22]

Good to see the Ringer sees some reason for excitement in Phoenix. If it wasn't for KOC, they probably wouldn't. He's one of only a handful (maybe not even) of national writers who is a Suns fan.

[Qwigglez]

Booker's gonna recruit KD to play with us. This should be the last season of the Warriors monStars lineup. I imagine KD will want to build his legacy and show that he can win without Steph, Klay, and Draymond.

[Saberestar]

Booker's gonna recruit KD to play with us. This should be the last season of the Warriors monStars lineup. I imagine KD will want to build his legacy and show that he can win without Steph, Klay, and Draymond.

EVERYONE is gonna recruit KD.

Wherever he goes is gonna be a contender. He is that good.

[Saberestar]

As a member of the NBA LIVE Squad, which currently also includes cover athlete Joel Embiid, The Streets ambassador Allen Iverson, and Female Create-a-Player ambassador Candace Parker, Book is joining what is making for one heck of an all-time pick-up squad. We had the good fortune of sitting down with Booker and asking him about his career.

https://www.easports.com/nba-live/news/2018/devin-booker-interview

[jredsaz]

Read on Twitter

Booker is in 4th behind Tatum, Mitchell and Ingram. Arbitrary rankings aside, he doesn't get the proper respect.

[lilfishi22]

I don't blame them. Only Suns fan who have actually watched more than 3 games of Booker's know how good he is. At the same time, while I do think Tatum and Mitchell do get overrated by NBA fans, I think they do deserve a lot of the praise.

I like Ingram but I don't think he's on the same level as Booker/Tatum/Mitchell

[Qwigglez]

Tatum has the versatility of a 2 way star, he would have been perfect to pair with Booker. Mitchell has a lot of flashiness to his game, but I don't think he's quite the versatile scorer that Booker is. I do like them both though, Ingram isn't even close.

[Revived]

Another Ringer piece about whether Book will make people get over the “shock” of the $158 million extension.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/8/13/17681826/are-we-sure-devin-booker-franchise-player-phoenix-suns

I think Booker may have slept with this writer’s wife.

I religiously read almost all articles about Booker and this is by far the most hating one I’ve seen.

Ringer is actually awesome in general but disappointing to see they have writers like this who use piss poor examples to try and bash a 21 year old that just averaged almost 25, 5 and 5 for a season while being efficient.

I think there’s gonna be a lot of writers (and fans) in their 20s and 30s who will be bashing on Booker out of pure jealously as Devin just signed a $158M contract at the age of 21.

[MrMiyagi]

Another Ringer piece about whether Book will make people get over the “shock” of the $158 million extension.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/8/13/17681826/are-we-sure-devin-booker-franchise-player-phoenix-suns

I think Booker may have slept with this writer’s wife.

I religiously read almost all articles about Booker and this is by far the most hating one I’ve seen.

Ringer is actually awesome in general but disappointing to see they have writers like this who use piss poor examples to try and bash a 21 year old that just averaged almost 25, 5 and 5 for a season while being efficient.

I think there’s gonna be a lot of writers (and fans) in their 20s and 30s who will be bashing on Booker out of pure jealously as Devin just signed a $158M contract at the age of 21.

I don't think it was hating on Booker at all, but it was a pretty lame article. Like, the answer it provides to the question it poses is "Maybe, we'll see!" without too much reasoning to while he won't be worth his contract and just barely glossing over the reasons why he'll be worth it. It was a bad article, that neither skewers nor praises Booker in any real tangible way other than, here's a highlight video and some stats I've found, but I haven't really watched him play, so the answer to the question I am asking must be "Who knows? Because I don't!"

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Read on Twitter

Booker is in 4th behind Tatum, Mitchell and Ingram. Arbitrary rankings aside, he doesn't get the proper respect.

I have Mitchell ahead, and I can't disagree with putting Tatum ahead, either. But Ingram? That's wack.

[bwgood77]

Another Ringer piece about whether Book will make people get over the “shock” of the $158 million extension.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/8/13/17681826/are-we-sure-devin-booker-franchise-player-phoenix-suns

I think Booker may have slept with this writer’s wife.

I religiously read almost all articles about Booker and this is by far the most hating one I’ve seen.

Ringer is actually awesome in general but disappointing to see they have writers like this who use piss poor examples to try and bash a 21 year old that just averaged almost 25, 5 and 5 for a season while being efficient.

I think there’s gonna be a lot of writers (and fans) in their 20s and 30s who will be bashing on Booker out of pure jealously as Devin just signed a $158M contract at the age of 21.

That's weird, I thought it was a pretty positive piece about him. I think it was posted a couple days ago and someone mentioned the same.

[Bogyo]

Read on Twitter

Booker is in 4th behind Tatum, Mitchell and Ingram. Arbitrary rankings aside, he doesn't get the proper respect.

I have Mitchell ahead, and I can't disagree with putting Tatum ahead, either. But Ingram? That's wack.

But one could make a strong point about Booker having no real coaching/structure/teammates so far in his career, while Mitchell and Tatum had all of that. Switch roles/teams for the sake of argument, and I bet Book would be up front.
Ingram has no place there, that is shameless Lakerism.