ESPN’s Lowe sees some Chris Paul in Devin Booker’s midrange prowess

The basketball world recognizes Devin Booker for being one of the best two-guards in the galaxy. His All-Star replacement nod was a strong indicator of that, as is the praise he received over the course of this season.

Through playing on a Phoenix Suns team that doesn’t get many eyeballs, though, Booker is still showcasing his complete game, one that has high levels of skill in many different areas.

One of them is in the midrange, where Booker is one of the best and one of the few who is as efficient and prolific from that area of the floor.

As previously covered in this space, Booker in many ways plays like a player from a past generation with the way he scores from midrange.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe actually sees someone still playing in this one: Chris Paul.

Lowe uses a specific highlight of Booker zigzagging through a Deandre Ayton screen to pull up from the right elbow to illustrate such.

That’s Paul’s signature shot, a shot Lowe notes as one of the best signature shots the NBA has seen in the past two decades. Lowe goes on to note that Booker shares the company of only a few others, including Paul, in taking that shot.

We tend to think of Booker as a long-range marksman, but he is a prolific and quite accurate midrange shooter who can get to this shot whenever he wants. A full 45% of his attempts this season have come from the midrange — a share that ranks in the 97th percentile for his position, per Cleaning The Glass. Only three players — Paul, Leonard, and Russell Westbrook — have attempted more shots from the right elbow, per Second Spectrum.

The point essentially from Lowe is that specific go-to jumper for Paul is one that the point guard has used for years to be one of the league’s best players in the winning time of games, and the midrange part of Booker’s game could do the same for him.

But that particular long 2 is a handy crunch-time weapon, and Booker’s proficiency with it opens other parts of his game — including his underrated pick-and-roll passing.

Booker took a leap this season. He was a deserving All-Star. He and the Suns have a lot to sort out, especially on defense, but Booker is really good and should grow into the sort of scorer-distributor who can play a big role on a winning team.

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