You know what sucks about NBA scheduling? And stop me if you’ve heard me complain about NBA scheduling before… The Suns played Monday night, and they don’t play again until Friday against the Denver Nuggets. By the time that date finally rolls around, the Suns will be the only team in the league with only 3 games played. Would’ve been nice to have a Wednesday game tonight, wouldn’t it? But instead, we’ll get some weird, wonky stretch of five games in seven nights later in the season to make up for it.
Because of all that time off, combined with the fact that Devin Booker scored only three points on 1-of-7 shooting against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, we’re left sitting around overanalyzing his performance. Questioning his body language at the end of the game. We’re so bored, we’re hitting up our local trade machines to pass the time. That can be a dangerous thing…
I could never cover football for this exact reason. You get one game a week, then you have to wait an entire week for another, leaving you to sit there and stew over everything that went wrong the previous Sunday. Seeing as I’ve spent the past couple of days doing exactly that, watching Booker footage over and over again, I figured it was time to put my thoughts together on the debacle.
I’ll start by acknowledging one simple fact. I don’t believe I’m somebody who coddles our superstar, primarily because, in my opinion, he hasn’t been a superstar over the past few seasons. That’s not a knock on Devin Booker, personally or professionally. It’s the reality of where he currently stands within the NBA landscape. We’re talking about a player who hasn’t won a playoff game since 2023 and failed to make an All-NBA team since 2023-24. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by suggesting that Devin Booker isn’t currently among the league’s premier players.
That’s not to say he doesn’t possess the ability to be one, because we’ve seen what he’s capable of throughout his career. He has a unique skill set, is an elite midrange scorer, and can pour in points with the best of them. We literally just witnessed this, as evidenced by his 43-point performance against the Golden State Warriors last Saturday. But consistency is what defines superstardom. It’s the ability to rise above the competition at every turn, or, in the case of Monday night’s game against Oklahoma City, to rise above three defenders at once.
“I’ve got to look at it back,” Booker stated after Monday’s loss when asked how he’ll evaluate his performance. “Shoot over three people?”
Yeah, based on that footage, I see why all the body-language doctors out there are writing prescriptions.
It’s troubling to see Booker go 1-of-7 against the Thunder, especially when you consider that two games earlier against the Portland Trail Blazers, he didn’t attempt a single three-pointer. While the Suns were getting their asses handed to them, their best (and highest compensated) player didn’t attempt a shot from beyond the arc, the very shot that could have helped his team get back into the game. That still befuddles me.
When you combine those performances with his postgame body language while sitting on the bench looking visibly distraught, and the fact that he didn’t appear willing to force the issue offensively, it catches your attention.
I don’t care what opposing defenses are doing to Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or Jalen Brunson. Those guys are going to get their shots up regardless of what the opposition throws at them. If they see a triple team coming, they’re going to find a way to get that shot off before the triple team arrives.
In the same breath, I can understand what Booker was attempting to do against Oklahoma City. This is a team that historically, and especially as we witnessed in last year’s postseason, has done an excellent job of game planning to get the ball out of his hands. Their entire objective is to force the rest of the Suns to beat them, and when you consider that Phoenix has surrounded one of the best midrange talents in the game with a roster lacking reliable spot-up three-point shooters, that objective becomes even easier to accomplish. We miss you, Grayson.
When you watch this compilation from Kellan Olson, you can see Booker fighting to get open, finding his spots, and creating opportunities. But it’s the defense imposing its will rather than Booker imposing his.
So what does he do instead? He goes into Point Book mode, recognizing that Oklahoma City is selling out to take him out of the game and relying on his teammates to pick up the slack. To his credit, he finished with seven assists and zero turnovers.
And much like trying to break down the 2-3 zone, something the Suns were unsuccessful in doing Monday night, the solution requires his teammates to start knocking down shots. If they do, the defense has to adjust, opening up opportunities for Booker to operate. But his teammates didn’t. Booker ended the game with a team-high 13 potential assists.
Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges, and Jalen Green combined to shoot 6-of-23 from beyond the arc, a miserable 26%. Sure, they combined for 56 points, but they did so on 43.2% shooting on 44 shot attempts. Scoring continues to be a struggle for this Suns team, especially when opposing defenses can dictate where the ball goes and who gets to shoot it.
By the end of the game, Booker’s body language appeared to be that of somebody who was exhausted and frustrated with the outcome, his own performance included. At least that’s my interpretation. You’re out there battling an opponent that eliminated you from the playoffs the year before, and they’re successfully taking you out of your game, forcing you away from your preferred spots and making every possession a struggle. And when you look around for somebody to help alleviate that pressure, nobody is efficiently stepping up.
Look at the notes Barstool’s Sam Vecenie had on Miles Bridges and Jalen Green following this game:
I hate everything about what this Phoenix team has done to its starting lineup. They were without Mark Williams and Oso Ighodaro tonight, so Maluach had to start. But really, the problem here is that Jalen Green and Miles Bridges are the antithesis of what made this team fun last year. They were so selfless and played for one another on defense last season. They moved the ball quicker and made better decisions. This group doesn’t do that with the starters. Coming into tonight, Phoenix’s starters had a negative-35.5 net rating and tonight might make that slightly better, but not much better. They got their ass kicked.
Green’s stat line looks about as good as it could. He had 20 points, four assists, four rebounds, only one turnover and shot 8 for 13 from the field. I wouldn’t say that he played poorly, but I didn’t love his game. I counted at least five possessions where he brought the ball up the court and shot the ball without passing, one of which was a pretty egregious one at the start of the second half where Phoenix clearly set up a Spain/stack action with Maluach and Booker, and Green just rejected the screen, drove to the rim, overpenetrated, and got stripped by McCain. Midway through the first, he had another no-pass possession where he settled for a contested midrange shot with 15 seconds left on the shot clock without trying to create anything for his teammates. When Green keeps it simple, attacking driving lanes when they come available as a slasher with his athleticism, taking open catch-and-shoot 3s, and cuts to the rim, he’s an effective player. He can attack mismatches well. The problem is when he tries to isolate or play in ball-screens against high-level defenses or defenders. He also doesn’t process it quickly enough and holds the ball too long upon catching it, allowing rotating defenses to catch up while he surveys. I don’t think he’s a fit with Devin Booker in the starting lineup.
Bridges was even worse largely because he can’t defend anyone. He gets caught in no-man’s land in help way to often. He can’t move his feet quickly enough on defense to deal with guards in switches. He ends up having to play too passively and is too far off of them, allowing them to get space and time to shoot. He also isn’t a good enough shooter to take advantage of when he’s open. He’s made 33 percent from 3 over his last four years, and only has one year in his career over 35 percent despite taking six per game over the last six years. He did a nice job moving without the ball, particularly in some moments where OKC was in zone coverage. Again, he had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. The box score looks great. He did not play well.
My real issue with everything Phoenix is doing here with this group is that none of it is in service of accentuating Devin Booker or the scheme Jordan Ott found success with last season. Gillespie makes life easier for Booker by spacing the court, being an aggressive point-of-attack defender, and making good decisions. Goodwin and Brooks take really tough matchups on defense and are physical. Ighodaro was out tonight, but he moves the ball quickly. But Green and Bridges just have not looked like a fit at all. Maybe it gets better as the season continues, but their careers to this point would not suggest it.
Um. Yikes?
If I’m Devin Booker, I’m frustrated too. You’re a star in your prime, hoping that the organization is doing everything it can to build a competitive team around you. Not by trying to buy a championship by surrounding you with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, but by finding a way to construct a roster around you while navigating a difficult dead cap situation. And so far, it doesn’t look good. The connectivity doesn’t exist, the chemistry is flawed, and the schemes aren’t working.
I can understand the blanket statements from the fan base expressing frustration that Booker should be able to rise above everything happening around him. He’s the $57 million man, and scoring three points is unacceptable. I understand exactly where you’re coming from because, on the surface, I concur. But when I dig a little deeper, I see a player who wants some help around him. Defenders who actually defend. Rebounders who actually rebound. Shooters who actually shoot. Is that too much to ask?
Devin Booker had the body language of somebody who recognizes that the road ahead is going to be long and difficult, and that the only way this team can remain competitive is if he goes out there and scores 43 points every night. That’s something a younger player might embrace, but on Friday, Booker turns 30. And sure, that’s what the contract is for. I get it. But that doesn’t make things any easier when the roster that’s been constructed around you, albeit incredibly early in the season, has been an utter catastrophe thus far.
Booker deserves criticism for Monday night. Three points from your franchise player is unacceptable, regardless of the circumstances. But expecting him to overcome every deficiency around him isn’t a sustainable formula for winning basketball. The Suns need to find ways to make his life easier, and that responsibility belongs to the players, the coaching staff, and the front office. Booker needs to be better. So does everybody around him. Because if this is what turning 30 looks like in Phoenix, it’s going to be a long damn season.
