Devin Booker Just Had Maybe His Best Season Ever, Why Doesn’t It Feel That Way?

Devin Booker Just Had Maybe His Best Season Ever, Why Doesn’t It Feel That Way?

today on locked on suns why Devon Booker’s second all NBA season in 2023 24 was both maybe his best ever and a step back let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and we are back this is lockon Phoenix Suns we are part of the lock on podcast Network I’m your host Brennan clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get your podcast thank you for making lockd on suns your first listen to kick off your week happy Monday welcome to the show we’re free and available everywhere including YouTube so wherever you’re finding us hit follow or subscribe get a show in your feed get a new episode in your feed every single Monday through Friday become an every dayer get locked onto the Phoenix Suns all off seon long as the news keeps rolling in we got a lot to talk about Devon Booker’s season that’s plenty right there and it was both his best and a step back in a variety of ways today’s episode is brought to you by the Linked In jobs which helps you find the qualif qualified candidates you want to talk to faster post your job for free at linkedin.com loock NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply all right so to get over to get through the stats the production that book put together this past season all right obviously third team all-nba his second appearance on an all NBA team his uh third voted in All-Star appearance is fourth overall and the numbers were Flawless basically uh really hard to poke a hole in highest true shooting percentage of his career since 201920 but pretty much tied with that season highest assist rate of his career one uh second lowest turnover rate of his career obviously the Suns win was it 49 games all thing all said and done and I mean he had the 63 point game he had brilliant brilliant brilliant individual moments and yet I feel like you can zoom out a little bit and a 62-point game Sorry and still feel some questions about it and the reason is every year up until this season for Booker’s entire Prime and I’m going the past six years that’s that’s probably even longer than what you would call his prime I would have and I did this show and could have and did point to not only production and different win totals and making the finals and everything else but I also would have been able to tell you Booker improved at this specific thing and yeah he’s 27 at some point it’s probably unfair to hold him to that standard of you need to get better every season in a huge way but it doesn’t even have to be a huge way I I very much struggle to look at this past season for Devin Booker and feel like not only that he improved and got better but that he met the moment of what was being put on his plate right honestly it might be unfair but none of the numbers I just listed off for this past season even if you can make a case it was his best statistical season ever we’re so far in a way greater than anything he’s ever done so even if I say that I don’t think that’s where the bar should be going into the season I said multiple times many times not only does Booker need to be the point guard for this team he also needs to be you know a three-level scoring threat he needs to be um you know kind of Take Over Control of kind of what’s being run and what pace things are being run at and obviously you know somewhat of a presence we’ll get into the leadership I don’t want to fully use that word but take on the responsibility of being the the clear-cut Cornerstone now that Chris Paul is gone and even Monty Williams is gone and some of the other glue guys like male Bridges and you know whoever else you want to point to they’re gone as well and he probably needs to be their one of their best point of attack Defenders he didn’t do a lot of those things you know and so that’s where I come in 20189 to go through what these improvements were prove that this was an aberration this year to have him not add new elements to his game 201819 played point guard pretty much entirely crazy production That season um just as a reminder of what that production was he was at a grand total of 26.6 points per game which if you remember he averaged that exact number twice but that was a career high for him it would continue to be a career high for the next four seasons so he just put up numbers that year playing point guard and really started to prove that his talent was even more legit than we already knew 201920 he coexists they bring Ricky Rubio in he doesn’t even really take a back seat his usage is still really high his assist rate’s still really high those two guys played off of each other so beautifully but they also play faster they’re of course winning so that is another tick mark for him of Hey I’m not just doing this on a bad team I can really contribute efficiently and productively and you know pick my spots and win basketball games the next season of course he goes back off ball because Chris Paul comes back in he improves on defense he hits that stride with his pullup three-pointer I think you would have to say in the playoffs against the closeout game against the Lakers and a couple other big moments the season after that he’s really you know in hindsight had probably a better MVP case than he did in real time best player on the best team you know joic wins it whatever but book had nightly consistency fire on both ends he was really the spirit and kind of Heart of that team even though male and Chris and all those other guys I mentioned were still around and he made his three into a consistent weapon again during that 64- win franchise best season uh 38% from Deep his assist or his uh attempt sorry went up that was to me his best season I think I would still pick that as his best season last year scoring feel it was just the timing and the patience and the feel that I talked about so much just the he just had the defense in the palm of his hand it felt like so often and it you know maybe didn’t show up in the numbers to quite the same degree his three-point total takes a dip it is the best two-point shooting season of his career so maybe that’s where you would say that it really uh it it broke through in terms of that feel but of course then he also coex exist next to KD and uh really in the playoffs obviously showed us something that had us all wondering what more there could be even on top of all of that in the postseason when he is on the ball playing basically point guard when Chris kind of you know was starting to break down permanently more so even than he had in the past and books defense just felt like wow is this really going to be something another element to his game this past year I don’t have I don’t have an answer there I don’t have an answer there you know free throw attempts pretty similar assists it’s like okay yeah you know to have a high assist total on a winning team that’s something um and to keep the turnovers low okay like maybe you would say it’s the best playmaking season of his career there is something to be said for that but I think if we’re being honest that was a lot about opportunity more so than to me feeling like he really really took a step forward in that his defense I don’t think you would say it translated from that postseason over it’s not really anything so maybe this is just what book is and some of the other stuff that’s a little more big picture will improve and this is still a pretty damn D good player he’s an all-nba guy you know that’s that’s great if you have a third team all-nba player and a second Team all NBA player which KD was this season odds are you’re going to have a chance to go pretty far in the playoffs if you can put together a Supporting Cast that’s you know good enough which this one wasn’t so maybe that’s it maybe there is no more Improvement to be there but again I’m not just making up that Benchmark and measurement for him oh you have to get better every year the team had an expectation that Devin Booker would get better this year and handle new responsibilities new ingredients to what he was going to have to do to lead this team and he did not rise to that level to the degree that I think he needed to he’s not the reason that they underperformed he’s probably not even the biggest reason they underperformed I just said The Supporting Cast would definitely be higher on that list Bradley Beal season who we talked about on Friday with Steven with would be higher on that list but I do think it’s fair to say that despite book being incredible and getting the accolades and the production and the numbers that he earned with his play that doesn’t tell the full story this was not his best season and I do think there’s some SP places that he took a step back that he’s going to need to get back to normal with coming up this fall if the suns are going to get where they want to go let’s break down what those areas were and how hopeful I am that that return to form can come and then some coming up next first Today’s Show brought to you by linkon jobs the best place to post a job the best place to find a job the best place to get a job when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals who are right for the role which is why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs which has the tools to help find the right Prof Professionals for your team faster and for free LinkedIn is not just another job board they have a vast network of more than a billion professionals which makes it the best place to hire it gives you access to professionals you can’t find anywhere else all while making the process easy and intuitive hiring is easy when you have so many qualified candidates so easy in fact that 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours told you before I’ll tell you again LinkedIn is why I have the job I have today I was kind of looking around poking around spending some time on LinkedIn just maybe hoping something fell into my lap and lo and behold it did a job writing about sports media a topic I’m passionate about a topic I had experience writing about and uh enough experience that I was the right level of experience for the company I found the qualifications found the benefits and pay and all that stuff to know hey yeah I’m probably the right fit here and then I went ahead applied got an interview got got the job all thanks to LinkedIn 2.5 small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring join them post your job for free and Link linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply all right let’s keep the show rolling here so a few areas where book took a step back and let’s get those out of the way because it’s the part that I think is the most fixable okay defensive execution and impact all right I think his communication I’ve said this throughout the season talked about it with Stephen plenty of times if you watch even on plays where the Suns did not get stops or looked a little bit broken on the defensive end of the floor book was really that quarterback on that side you can tell that he embraced that role and that leadership role and that presence he was pointing he was talking he was um you know even in in media situations kind of taking ownership and accountability for all of that stuff and that’s important but off ball especially his execution and his impact regressed he got beat on back door cuts a lot of the time and not even always cuts like notot a lot of teams don’t cut anymore but even a little bit of a the three-point Shooters in the corner now they’re a little more toward the wing that half step that book falls behind the play is the difference between a contested Corner three with book recovering back out there to suddenly he loses track he’s not able to get a hand in that player’s face it’s an open three little things like that and just sort of some rotation stuff some switching I wouldn’t say ever that he was the biggest problem but some of the bad habits cropped up and he wasn’t at the high levels we have seen from 21 21 to 2023 where he was a positive on that end and you never really had to worry also the fact that they didn’t trust him to or ask him to guard on the ball much at all against the best players that they went up against I’m not going to hold that against him that at the end of the day that is a coaching staff decision but it’s hard to give him a lot of credit and feel good about it given that he never got to the point where the coaching staff was asking him to do that you know I we only can judge what happens on the court and I’m not saying he can never do it again but I’m not going to give him credit for it this season cuz it wasn’t a big part of what he had to do the other thing I think can improve big picture is the weird possessions where it felt like a computer was crashing or your phone was freezing up or some sort of malfunction was going on where he’s just dribing dribbling the life out of the ball air out of the ball and just sort of sitting there overthinking that’s not book book thinks the game at a really high level any players who know that better than me will have always said that about him you watch him long enough it’s very obvious that he just understands how to get to his spots what the right decision to make is even that defensive communication is illustrating that he obviously is a very smart basketball player I don’t think that just because those possessions were more frequent this season that suddenly he forgot how to be a great offensive player but something went wrong I think in general he can put that behind him but the elements the ingredients the my microscopic little parts of what added up to him having those moments I got to admit I’m a little more worried about and they are part of why he did not meet the expect expectations that I think a lot of us and clearly the front office and coaching staff had for him this past season to shoulder everything he was asked to shoulder Pace the Suns finished the regular season 17th in offensive seconds per possession which is a better metric than Pace because it’s just the offensive end when the Suns had the ball how much time were they using they were 17th in that category and in the playoff off S I would want to tell you they they were even lower no they had the I I’ve actually looked this up it’s hilarious they had the fastest Pace in the in the NBA in the postseason this year and they had the highest number of their shots that came at The Rim uh as a portion of their total their their at Rim frequency was higher so um maybe they turned the page maybe they figured it out or that series was just kind of so all over the place and they were more desperate I don’t know fourth quarters of course turnovers you know Booker turnovers of course I I mentioned in that first segment stayed relatively equivalent and and plateaued at a good really low part uh point but the team turnovers were really high I’m not going to put that all on him but again the idea was that he was going to be their point guard this year for the most part and so the overall team efficiency and decisionmaking as an offens unit like you kind of have to place that on his shoulders a bit and just broken possessions right just times where set aside it might not might not have been a turnover maybe they actually got into their set quickly maybe there was no computer malfunction but it ended up with the type of process the type of shot that they did not want too much ISO ball too much you know pullup mid-range jumpers stagnant offense even if stagnant meaning little ball movement little you know even if the pace as far as the offensive seconds per possession type stat that I just let told you was High um it didn’t really look right I put that on him too so does that mean that he can’t be a point guard does that mean they need to take the ball out of his hands I know a lot of you want a point guard I’m not opposed to it in in a vacuum I think it could help in some respects but this comes back to what I’ve said all the time and talked about it with Stephen right after the season ended a lot of teams it’s natural it’s normal I get it it’s a lot easier it feels like that’s what you do in sports to talk about adding things changing things making this trade making this acquisition when your team falls short when your team’s plan in October doesn’t come together by June a lot of what the Suns will a lot of why the Suns will be better next season if they’re better next season is their best players fitting together better playing off of one each other one another better and just being better being healthier too of course and it’s hard for me to imagine a season maybe more consistent for KD would be the only knit you would pick but it’s hard for me to imagine a season better for Durant than he just had you know when you talk about the the volume the minutes the two-way play he was available he was relatively consistent he was really effective on both ends I don’t think it’s fair to ask KD at this point in his career to be even better than he just was I think getting that again you feel pretty great and I believe he can do it the guy who can get better of course beel more more uh consistent and healthy available all that talked on Friday show about ways that they can use him better and have him be himself more rather than being uncomfortable which I think he was but if Booker can check more of the boxes that are being drawn for him to check next season that’s the best path for the Suns being better as a team we’ve seen him do all of it it’s a lot to ask but he’s kind of got to and that’s why that’s what prevents me from sitting here and saying he just had his best season it’s headed in the right direction he had a great great season but if the suns are going to pull this off he’s going to need to be amazing and he wasn’t quite amazing this past season let’s go off the court to close out the show a lot went wrong there for the Suns how much of fixing that has to fall on book what’s fair to ask of him there break that down next first Today’s Show brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive love eBay Motors told you about him a million times eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racked exhaust kits those are their examples mine is a wheel cover uh interior sunshade flap to block the Sun from coming in my eyes I believe I’ve gotten uh one a long time ago I got a rearview mirror like the one the the driver and passenger side front door cuz I smashed it on the way to a a pulling out of my driveway with over 122 Million Parts those are just some of them for 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it has to come from the best player I don’t I really don’t because I think there’s teams where it comes from the coach there’s teams where the identity the personality the leadership the sort of do as I do as I do person a lot of the time that’s the coach I think Miami is a good example of that I think what’s another good example of that uh the Clippers I don’t think any of their you know they’re not a championship team so do with that what you will but very good they’ve been good for five years can go on and on down the list um I think there’s times when one of the best players but maybe not the certified top guy can be a leader on on their team I think what’s an example of that I mean I think har Irving’s been clearly one of the the the main leaders of that of that uh Dallas team and he’s the second best guy but he’s a pretty new entrant to that organization and and just kind of you know hit hit his stride land landed and made his impression fell I think in Boston you know probably Al Horford feels like that and Marcus Smart was kind of that at one point even Marcus Morris I felt like maybe at one point you know those guys were younger back then but so that can be kind of what it is that said I don’t blame Booker for Frank vogle not working I don’t blame Booker for not like you know you could say oh well yes the role players they signed the minimum guys those mid Prime Veterans as James Jones always called them didn’t work out well you know aren’t star players supposed to make their teammates better I’m not going to go that far those were unproven players and they got ample opportunity and couldn’t make the most of it I’m not going to pin that on Booker or Duran or Beal or vogle frankly it was those guys’ fault they’re not maybe good enough players at this point so I I don’t think that stuff’s his fault I I don’t know if the you know waxing and waning of their performance and their effort and all that was his fault I mean he deserves some the blame but all of it I don’t know is he going to be the sole reason okay he had this Epiphany over the summer and now those problems are gone probably not but it is part of his job to make players better and make the most of a situation as the clearcut kind of Cornerstone of the franchise and the highest paid guy on the team he is in his prime he’s the youngest he’s under contract for longest he’s supposed to be the best player he can’t be part of the and he has to be part of the solution and part of why I I’m not I guess um part of why I’m holding him to that standard and and putting that on him even though there’s plenty of players in the NBA who I wouldn’t even bother with you know I would treat it as a lost cause is that Booker can really be that Rising tide and be a galvanizing presence for his teams we’ve seen it before and he does it with his play more than anyone on the team previous or current I mean maybe you would say male or campaign I guess but there is also a certain level of like okay you know the energy guy is not going to be the leader of the team those are different campaign made everybody feel really good when he would get going but nobody would have ever called campaign the of the team right similar you know right now it’s like Grayson Allen can have some cool moments and really get hot and you know flip a game with his shooting and he you know plays hard and he’s he’s not the leader of the team book can do both book is good enough and he is veteran enough experienced enough now and he has that spirit that edge that fire that again wasn’t really there often enough this year but we have seen it like I again I mentioned it in the first segment as part of what he brought to the table in that 64 win 202 2021 22 season that I do credit him for developing over time which was that that fire if you remember that season he really kind of to me turned a corner and maybe he’s unturned that corner a little bit here and there since but he channeled the problems and the barking and the chirping at the the refs that had always kind of gotten in the way for him and sort of the MVP narrative and a lot of that stuff and he really just said f it you know if I’m MVP I’m MVP I don’t care if the refs aren’t on my side I’m going to make them be on my side I’m going to get downhill I’m G to I I have the talent I’m just going to get after it and there was the Minnesota game when Russell was still there in towns obviously and he took it to those guys and he’s barking at the people on the uh in the floor seats and there was that game I think think against the Clippers where they put the wrong name up for the wrong picture I believe up for him in the starting lineups and he turned that into motivation and it just became this very Fu mentality and it showed up on the court so I think he can do that I think that’s within him I would say we saw that last postseason frankly too where how could you not rise to that occasion I think the Suns punched above their weight to beat those clip to beat that Clippers team and to push Denver as much as they did frankly given the bench they had and Chris Paul being you know a lesser version of himself by that point like he really was giving every single ounce of energy he was at the absolute peak of his powers he was you know emotional and per like really really just bringing it and that’s where I think his leadership can show up it of I mean of course that it’s that’s there’s a reason that happened in a 64 game season or you know in a deep second round postseason push it’s easier to do that when you’re winning nobody’s going to bring the fire of a thousand suns to a 15-point loss in January but you kind of got to try if you’re the best player you got to manufacture that and and try to bring it out of your teammates even if it’s uncomfortable or a little a little made up a little faked so maybe he’s not going to be the pregame speech guy or the take everybody to dinner guy or the you know have a one-on-one little heart-to-heart with the eighth man after a practice and not everybody does things that way but he can be he has everybody’s respect we know that and he can be a look how much fun I’m having look how competitive I’m being look how much we’re winning come with me he can be that he has been that he’s willing to be the public face of the team and say difficult things I think you’d like to see that continue to develop so it’s there for him I’m not putting it all on him I think it’d be nice if they brought back a Crowder javil McGee even etan Moore from the final season those vets did make a difference for him Tyson Chandler Once Upon a Time PJ Tucker for Booker personally those two had an impact it’d be nice to have another one of those here Gordon wasn’t that but part of why again I’m putting this on book a little bit is he’s proven that he’s up for it he’s proven he’s up for the on court stuff he’s proven he’s up for the off the court stuff it’s not going to be enough to be productive and efficient and awesome and make all NBA anymore he’s kind of GNA have to he’s going to have to be one of the five to eight best players in the NBA more often than not for this thing to get back on track and get that elusive first championship that’ll wrap us up more to come Tuesday with Brandon dwas hit follow or subscribe if you have not already to get that episode and more throughout the weeks and months ahead enjoy your Monday I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow

Devin Booker was statistically great this season but the Phoenix Suns underachieved and looked lost at times. How can both be true?

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans breaks down Book’s strange All-NBA season and why he didn’t meet the mark. Then, a look at where he can bounce back in year 10 and where he needs some help.

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