Sarver on talks with Suns’ Booker about CP3 trade; potential extensions

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver joined Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Monday and discussed a few things involving some of his most important players.

One of them is point guard Chris Paul, who the Suns traded for in the offseason.

When those talks were happening, so too were ones between Sarver and his star shooting guard Devin Booker.

“I had conversations with Devin, and I was very candid with him, to let him know what this meant for him,” Sarver said. “I said you’re bringing in somebody you gotta understand: this person is going to get a lot of attention, this person’s obviously is going to have the ball in your hands, this person’s gonna take away from you some of the focus.

“And Devin just said, ‘I just want to win and he’s going to help us win.’ And I said, ‘Great. My hat’s off to you.'”

Sarver said he’s happy for Booker getting to win like the Suns have this season and told stories of Booker always working to get better. One of those was when Booker was only using his left hand in workouts at Sarver’s home basketball gym when Booker was coming back from a right wrist injury.

The Suns will have some big decisions to make once the season is over, as is the case with any team.

Two for Phoenix will be potential extensions for third-year players Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges.

Both will be eligible for them, which will be pricey, and the Suns already have lots of money going toward Paul and Booker.

Sarver was asked if he committed to keeping this group together.

“From a financial standpoint I am,” he said. “In terms of the timing of contracts and who and this and that, that’s something that (general manager) James (Jones) and his crew will be working on I’m sure during the summer. But in terms of from ownership, yeah, we’re committed for sure.”

Sarver said that also goes beyond just retaining some of their players.

“We will not only try to keep things intact this summer, but we’ll try to take another step forward and get better,” he said.

And that could wind up forcing the Suns to pay the luxury tax.

The owner indicated a potential willingness to do so if necessary.

“We know that will take more money than this year and that’s OK,” he said. “Listen, we paid the tax three years before, and when you’re at the point we are, you do what you can.”

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