Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker recently stated that the team has struggled this season because it is not paying attention to the small details. On March 21, 2025, Booker told Fox Sports that a team needs to do the little things to win games.
“Talent only gets you so far,” Booker told FOX Sports. “I’ve been on teams with less talent that found ways to get more wins. It’s just the little things. What people always say, the details of the game. Although it sounds like we should know that at this part of our careers, it’s just something you need to form and develop and learn through trial and error.
However, Devin Booker’s assessment of the team’s struggles is wrong, as he is a major part of the problem. The Phoenix Suns organization views Booker as a franchise cornerstone. Owner Mat Ishbia stated on March 14th that trading Booker was not even a consideration because teams need a superstar to win a championship.
“Never happen,” Ishbia said, interrupting the question. “It’s silly. So here’s what I’ll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player.”
The skill set of Devin Booker
Unfortunately, Booker’s skill set suggests that he should not be viewed as a superstar. Throughout his career, Booker has preferred to be the primary ball handler in pick-and-roll offensive sets. He spends 28.7% of his offensive possessions in this play type, averaging 6.9 per game.
The play type is responsible for 26.7% of his scoring output. He averages 6.4 points in the pick-and-roll, shooting 44.6% on 5.2 attempts. Although the pick-and-roll accounts for a significant portion of Booker’s production, it also allows viewers to see one of his primary weaknesses.
Devin Booker has a tendency to stop when he sees a big man after coming off a screen. On April 20 2024, Booker had the ball at the top of the key against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He remained there for a second until Jusuf Nurkić came up to set a screen to initiate the pick and roll.
Booker went over the screen and immediately stopped because he saw Rudy Gobert standing at the free-throw line. Booker stood in place until Nurkić could clear Gobert from the free-throw line. After Gobert was cleared, Booker drove to the basket.
Unfortunately, McDaniel blocked his layup attempt from behind. Booker’s refusal to attack big men has led him to settle for mid-range shots. 28.8% of his shot attempts have come in the mid-range, averaging 5.3 per game. Booker has excelled in the mid-range, shooting 45.5%.
Booker as a number one option
Despite Booker’s mid-range success, his tendency to stop when he sees a big man is bad for team success. Devin Booker’s habit takes away most of the potential advantage of having him as a pick-and-roll ball handler.
If an extra defender rotates over to help his teammate stop Devin Booker during a pick-and-roll, once he stops because of the big man, the extra defender can go back to his original assignment.
Consequently, Devin Booker’s passes do not create a significant number of points for the team. Devin has averaged 35.4 passes per game during his career, creating 13.5 points per game for Phoenix.
Devin Booker’s playing style indicates that the Phoenix Suns should not build a roster with him as the number one option. Before the arrival of Chris Paul and Kevin Durant, the Suns’ starting lineup produced league-average statistics. From 2016 to 2020, the sentence starting lineup was 14th in points per game. They averaged 73.1 points, shooting 46.5% on 58.2 attempts.
In reality, Devin Booker is best suited to be a secondary ball handler, where he is not the primary focus of an opposing team. Booker’s best statistical seasons came alongside Chris Paul. During the three-season span, both players were teammates. Booker averaged 26.6 points, shooting 48% on 20.1 attempts per game.
Devin Booker’s success was due to the attention Chris Paul commanded from other teams. With eight minutes to go in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets on June 11, 2021, Paul went over a De’Andre Ayton screen.
Paul realized that Devin Booker’s defender, Aaron Gordon, was beginning to come over to stop him. Consequently, he passed the ball to Booker, standing on the left wing.
Upon receiving the ball, Booker took two steps to the left before attempting a wide-open midrange jumper. Given the evidence above, building a roster with Devin Booker as the centerpiece has a very limited celling, the play-in tournament.
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