As the 2026 NBA offseason progresses, trade rumors are making the rounds. We’ve speculated on a few prime targets here on site already. There will be more. But today I want to detour off the beaten path to a player few people are talking about: Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker.
As recently as a couple years ago, Booker was considered one of the untouchable young stars in the league. He’s still a star, but Phoenix has had a bumpy couple seasons. Their NBA Finals run in 2021 is ancient history. They
won 49 games in 2023-24 but other than that it’s been 45, 39, and 45, with this year’s mark coming as a large surprise to many who predicted them falling to the bottom of the standings. That’s a nice accomplishment, but hardly newsworthy.
Here’s the thing. Booker is 29 years old, heading to 30. That’s not old by NBA standards, but it’s past the point of “young star”. If Phoenix is staring at a 3-4 year retooling process, Booker starts to not look like a good bargain anymore. The impression multiplies when you consider his $57 million salary in the coming season, ballooning to a player option of $68.8 million in 2029-30. And how will Phoenix rebuild anyway with a draft outlook that can be charitably described as disastrous? There are wrinkles and complications, but you wouldn’t be entirely wrong by saying the Suns have traded away all their picks between now and 2031.
The Trail Blazers have none of these problems. A 30-year-old is above their age curve, but not radically so. They have extra draft capital to offer in trade. The money is eye-popping, but Booker would be a guaranteed starter and possible first (or co-first) option. Those are hard to find, often worth what they’re paid.
There’s plenty to recommend Booker too. He was an NBA All-Star this season for a reason. It’s not just the 26.1 points per game. He scores that amount on 18.7 shots. That’s not far out of line with Portland’s current leading shot-taker, Shaedon Sharpe. But Sharpe averaged just 20.8 points. For those counting, that’s 1.3 more shot attempts per game for Booker, but 5.3 more points produced. Booker’s per-36-minute scoring (26.2) and per-100-possessions scoring (38.4) blow all the Trail Blazers out of the water too. That’s higher than Deni Avdija, the current best point-producer for the Blazers.
In short, you already know Devin Booker is a scorer. It’s easy to miss how good of a scorer he really is.
Booker isn’t an inveterate ball hog though. He averaged 6.0 assists per game last season against 3.1 turnovers. By comparison Avdija averaged 7.2 assists, but 4.1 turnovers.
The complaints against Booker are two. He’s not known for defense and his three-point shot is surprisingly mediocre for a scoring guard in the modern NBA.
On the defensive side, he’s a net negative and one of the poorer defenders on his team. That said, he improved last season after being called out for it. Both anecdotal stories out of Phoenix and his stat lines say that Booker stepped up this year and contributed as he could. He’s not going to be Toumani Camara, but the Blazers may not need that.
Booker’s three-point shooting is more of a mystery. He famously finished second to Damian Lillard in the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend 3-Point Contest. At times in his career, he’s soared as high as 38% shooting behind the arc, an acceptable (but not spectacular) number. But the last two seasons he’s registered a career-low 33%.
The only mitigating circumstance is that Sharpe shoots almost the same percentage, so the Blazers wouldn’t be losing ground. Opponents leave Portland shooters wide open currently, guarding against the threat of inside scoring. One wonders if that would be enough to revitalize Booker’s shooting, at least when he’s playing off-ball.
Phoenix would want plenty of draft assets plus young players in order to let Booker go. It would signify a full rebuild for them, and this after just acquiring 30-year-old forward Dillon Brooks. They’d need to make a Booker trade count and then some. That Sharpe and/or Scoot Henderson would be on the way to the Valley of the Sun would be a near-given. Besides that, Portland would need to send Jerami Grant or Jrue Holiday to make salaries work. Multi-team deals are also a possibility, of course. In return, the Blazers would get a high-scoring, starting shooting guard playing at an All-Star level currently, plus the ability to go “A Little Offense” with Booker mixed in with the current starting core or “Extra Offense” by pairing Booker with Lillard during some stretches of the game.
What say you? Is this a deal you’d consider, should Phoenix be amenable? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
