Suns’ Booker receives criticism and praise in ESPN rankings debate
Sep 20, 2018, 1:47 PM | Updated: 2:04 pm
(AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
(AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Tuesday, ESPN released Nos. 50-31 of its annual NBArank, and Suns guard Devin Booker came in at No. 31.
The next day, ESPN released Nos. 30-21, and subsequently, a panel of analysts gave their opinions about the young players of the NBA and their futures in NBArank’s 5-on-5 debate.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton both extolled and criticized Booker in the article.
Along with Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum, Booker was one of Pelton’s top three candidates to make the top-10 someday. According to Pelton, Booker has a good chance to crack the top-10 because of his youth.
Booker and Mitchell are already approaching the top 20 during their age-22 seasons, and continued improvement in terms of efficiency to go with their high-volume scoring should get them in.
Later in the article, Pelton praised Booker for his improvements in offense and overall efficiency, but he also pointed out Booker’s main weakness: defense. Because of his suspect defense, Booker was around the league average in terms of advanced stats last year, Pelton said.
Nonetheless, he rated around league average by advanced stats because of his dreadful defense. While a better defensive culture should help, Booker has a long ways to go to help the Suns win as much as his ranking would suggest.
A year ago, Booker averaged a career-high 24.9 points and 4.7 assists per game, but he has struggled defensively since entering the league. He could miss the beginning of the season due to a hand injury, but once he returns, he will attempt to improve all facets of his game.
