Yesterday, we learned that Dillon Brooks had made quite the jump in ESPN’s preseason player rankings, going from unranked a season ago to No. 76 overall. Today, ESPN released players 11 through 50, which means we finally learned where Devin Booker landed.
Booker is the only other member of the Phoenix Suns to crack ESPN’s top 100, and after entering last season ranked 16th overall, he has fallen four spots. His final ranking? 20th. I was so close, guessing he would land at 18th in the comment section
yesterday.
What are ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill’s observations of Booker?
Booker is one of the most malleable stars as the Suns have assembled various teams around him in recent years and yet, he continues to thrive. From teaming with Chris Paul to playing alongside Kevin Durant to now, having Dillon Brooks as a running mate. Pencil him in for 26 points and 6 assists, the ability to play both guard positions and playing through nicks and bruises. His 11 years in the league have been in the Valley, and he’s signed through 2029-30 — a rare one-team star. — Goodwill
Signature stat: Booker was one of five players with at least 1,000 drives last season and was one of eight players to score 1,000 points when he drove (min. 500 drives), per Genius IQ tracking.
Fantasy projection: 26.5 PTS, 6.7 AST, 4.2 REB
There shouldn’t be anything overly surprising about the drop for anybody who watched Suns basketball last season. Booker is a player who has had plenty placed upon his shoulders throughout his career, and last season was another year in which much of that weight fell directly on him. He no longer had Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, or Chris Paul alongside him to shoulder some of the scoring or playmaking responsibilities. No, much of it fell upon Booker, and there were struggles along the way.
He shot 33% from beyond the arc, his worst three point shooting season since 2018–19. His 45.6% shooting from the field was his worst since 2017–18. And while he did make the All Star team, he struggled in late game and clutch situations down the stretch.
There wasn’t much of a release valve around him, and at times, Booker fell into those old patterns of struggling through double teams. Some of that was scheme. Some of it was execution. All of it serves as a reminder that, by all accounts, last season was an adjustment year for Booker.
That doesn’t mean it has to become a trend line. Last season was the adjustment. This season will be the adjustment to the adjustment. Hopefully, better health from Jalen Green and the addition of Miles Bridges will alleviate some of the pressure on Booker purely through the gravity they create.
Still, falling four spots in ESPN’s rankings is indicative of a season that was underwhelming in totality. There’s also some understandable movement around him. Tyrese Haliburton jumped ahead after not being ranked last year because of injury. LeBron James remains ahead of him. Scottie Barnes is where I scratch my head a little bit. Perhaps youth played a role in Barnes climbing this high after ranking 30th a season ago. Either way, Booker now finds himself sitting at No. 20.
Maybe that gives him a little extra fuel for the fire. Not that he’s likely paying much attention to ESPN rankings in September.
