thamadkant wrote:This is my fear.
Booker becoming Kevin Martin or a flashier JJ Redick. And I got crucified for it a couple of years back for my comparison. Last year I thought he has turned the corner... And he could be Ginobili esque... With less agility... But now he's turned into a homeless man's James Harden...
Hence I always prefer two way perimeter players. Seeing Paul George put up Michael Jordan like two way numbers minus the 3s... I would no doubt have signed him to a 170 Million contract last season if he was interested.
I don't think Booker will live up to that contract... If you are expecting him to be main man.
He is ideal as second option to a prime Lebron James or even current Kawhi / George.
Someone who will dominate in both ends and just let him score to help the burden offensively.
Kevin Martin and JJ Redick are non-playmakers. They are strict shooters. Martin averaged 2.5 APG for his career. Booker is averaging like 7.5 this year at 22. Yes, Booker is playing more PG than either of those ever have, but that's because Booker is able to create off the dribble, while the others aren't.
Worst case scenario offensively Booker is an elite secondary playmaker. That is not the same as some role playing screen shooter. He isn't Landry Shamet. Just very different players. Best case he's Harden. Defensively Book is a disaster right now but he's not hopeless. He does need to grow up a bit on that end and stop checking out of games. The team sucks at D and it impacts everyone's numbers but Bridges and others defend regardless. Book needs to lead by playing with effort on that end. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that if we were more competitive he would try harder and be a below average defender, which would be a big improvement.