Devin Booker is a two-time All-Star who looks well on his way to being a superstar. He is currently averaging 24.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 4.4 APG while being the best player on the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, and look like they will finally break their playoff drought. Devin Booker has been their primary scorer and a huge reason why they have been able to compete against the best teams in the West.
However, despite Devin Booker’s amazing basketball ability, he was drafted at a lower pick than other stars. Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, and Kristaps Porzingis were both drafted in the top 5 in the 2015 NBA Draft. Meanwhile, Devin Booker fell all the way to No. 13 overall. That gave the Phoenix Suns the biggest steal of that draft and has led them to be able to compete today. Basketball Network conversed with a former scout for the Phoenix Suns, and he explained why exactly Booker was underrated.
Some underrated aspects of Devin Booker’s game: he’s more athletic than people think he is, he’s tougher than people think he is… and Devin loves basketball. Devin’s the type that will go and play in a pick-up game somewhere. He loves to hoop. When we look at upside, we always attribute it to physical things. But there’s some other underrated elements of upside as well… Those are some underrated aspects of Devin’s game, and those are the things that have made him into a superstar.
I don’t think Devin has completely reached his ceiling. He’s a better scorer than what people give him credit for because people look at him, ‘oh man, he’s a great shooter’ — this dude is a scorer as well! One of the things where we’ll start to see that he hasn’t really mastered yet is really having those kill spots in the mid-post and scoring out of the post.
Devin Booker isn’t widely known as an athletic player, which may have been part of why he was underrated. Some of the other factors are important: loving the sport is important simply due to the fact that you have to be able to enjoy what you’re doing. It is crazy to think that he even fell out of the top 5, but sometimes, it is the overlooked people that make the greatest impact. Devin Booker being drafted at No. 13 was absolutely the correct decision, and the best part is that he can get even better. This season, we will likely see Booker play in the playoffs for the first time in his career: hopefully, he can continue to show that he’s superstar material in the postseason.
