Suns’ Devin Booker 9th in 1st returns of All-Star fan voting

Devin Booker has some ground to make up in fan voting for the 2020 All-Star Game.

The Phoenix Suns shooting guard is ninth on the first returns of fan voting among guards in the Western Conference. He’s got 91,817, which is less than half as many votes as Houston’s Russell Westbrook in fifth.

Among the humorous vote-getters is someone in front of Booker: Los Angeles Lakers reserve guard Alex Caruso, checking in at eighth with 92,233 votes.

No other Suns player is in the top-10 of the guards group or the frontcourt.

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks leads the West with over a million votes while Giannis Antetokounmpo represents the Bucks well by topping the East at over a million as well.

Last season Booker finished eighth in total votes among West guards, which factor in fan, player and media voting. Booker was 10th in the fan vote that year and sixth in media and player.

Booker’s case this year for an All-Star spot has been strengthened by the good start the Suns got off to, which cast more positive attention his way at the start of the season.

The 23-year-old has been more efficient this year but is still mostly at the same averages, posting 25.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 50.2% from the field, 36.3% from three-point range and 90.6% at the foul line.

Among the 13 players this season averaging at least 25 points per game, Booker’s 61.7 true shooting percentage ranks third, per Basketball-Reference.

As always, the competition out West is difficult for Booker to squeak in, but might be the lightest it’s ever been.

Doncic at guard is an issue, as he will surely take the other starting spot with Houston’s James Harden.

That leaves two more reserve guard spots, selected by coaches, and two more potential spots that can be filled by either guards or frontcourt players.

Russell Westbrook has eight All-Star appearances to his name and Portland’s Damian Lillard has four. They seem to be near-locks as well.

Beyond that, however, injuries to Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson leave the door open. Utah’s Donovan Mitchell has the best pedigree to build off and then there are some other cases as well.

Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander getting the nod for a surprisingly successful 18-15 Thunder season wouldn’t be a shocker given the way the narrative machine usually powers these discussions. Ditto the picking players off winning teams route in Denver for Jamal Murray helping lead the Nuggets to a 23-10 mark, and there could be a campaign built for the Clippers’ Lou Williams to finally make it too.

The Suns’ 13-21 record is the only thing really holding Booker back and improving or not improving that over the next month will likely be the difference between him earning the Suns’ first All-Star since Steve Nash in 2012.

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