Suns offseason outlook: Is Devin Booker a franchise player?
The Phoenix Suns had a surprisingly good season in the wake of the Kevin Durant trade to the Houston Rockets.
Dillon Brooks made a substantial offensive leap and Jalen Green, while inconsistent, had periods where his performance seemed mature and more ready for positive play.
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Unfortunately for the Suns, the problems remain. Chief among them is a topic that will be controversial for fans of the organization.
Is Devin Booker good enough to be considered a #1 star?
Look, Booker is good. He is a tremendous scorer, his playmaking has historically been underrated, and throughout his career he has made great strides defensively that have gone mostly unnoticed.
That said, outside of games, when he actually comes out, Booker seems to oscillate between franchise leader and complementary star.
Devin Booker hasn’t won a playoff game since 2023.
(Christian Petersen via Getty Images)
During their first-round sweep of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Booker averaged 21.3 points per game and looked every bit like a guy who isn’t a core player. He also shot 46% from the floor and 25% from 3 and averaged four turnovers per game.
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Some will point to his lingering ankle issues, and that’s a fair point. His performance against Oklahoma City may not be representative of his true impact.
Yet we’ve seen him decline as a 3-point shooter for four years now (34.3% in his last 260 games), and he’s all over the place.
After averaging 31 points and seven assists in the first eight games of the season, his scoring dropped by as much as 10 points per game in the next 14.
For a player whose primary skill is putting the ball in the basket, the Suns need more from him.
End 2025-26
Record: 45-37, seventh in the Western Conference. Eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in four games in the first round.
Announcement
Highlight of the season
The offensive evolution of Brooks, who has become a 20-point nightly scorer, which was much needed as Phoenix’s offense was expected to be poor before his emergence.
The players have signed for next season
Devin Booker
Jalen Green
Dillon Brooks
Grayson Allen
Royce O’Neale
Khaman Maluach
Ryan Dunn
Rasheer Fleming
Key free agents
Oso Ighodaro (partial guarantee)
Collin Gillespie (UFA)
Jordan Goodwin (UFA)
Expected salary
$154,574,458
Expected draft picks
No. 47
Draft focus: The best player available, period. The Suns need talent, and if they’re looking for a guy who can, in particular, fill the bucket, so much the better. Because they need it.
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The Suns will, once again, be expensive. It’s kind of their brand now. Unless, of course, radical changes are made, but that seems unlikely.
Gillespie will have a new big salary and they can’t afford to lose him. So if we anticipate his return with an expensive salary, we’re likely looking at a team that won’t be able or won’t feel free to use its full non-tax MLE, even if the Suns can stay under that threshold.
Needs and goals
The Suns need to identify, once and for all, what their level of ambition is. They got younger last summer, which was probably the right move. So, sticking to this vision, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to prioritize young people, whenever they can, and try to build a sustainable model for the future.