Devin Booker Takes Small Step Back In Terms Of Scoring

For four straight seasons now, Devin Booker has been one of the premier scorers in the entire NBA, averaging over 20 points per game, and has come close to leading the league in points per game a couple of times. While a lot of his numbers and stats have been deemed “dead stats” over the years because he has been on such a bad team, this does not take away from how good of a player Devin Booker really is. 

He earned his first All-Star game appearance last year and should be on his way to many more moving forward, especially with a veteran point guard like Chris Paul by his side. While the addition of Chris Paul will greatly impact the Phoenix Suns, it will also impact Devin Booker’s stats.

Devin Booker is no longer the “only player” on the Suns and he has two big time talents in Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul on the court with him now. In past years, he has had to take on all of the scoring load on his own and play for virtually the entire game to give the Suns a shot at winning, but now, he can finally relax a little bit and have others take on part of the scoring load. 

While he will still be a very lethal scoring machine and dangerous player to leave open, Devin Booker will likely come back down to earth a little bit this season in terms of scoring and workload, but will likely see an increase in his shooting percentage. Booker will not have to take 18-20 shots per game anymore to give the Suns a shot at winning, but as a result, will see his scoring output decline slightly. 

In the end, Devin Booker wants to win and if it costs him a shot at winning the scoring title or setting franchise scoring records, then so be it. This team has a chance to be special and Booker is not a selfish player, which makes the addition of Chris Paul ever so smoother.