Booker did some good things last year for the Suns and likes to score in a multitude of ways. He lives in the mid range and his average field goal attempt is 14 feet. He has a nice stroke and cleaned up in his lone college season with Kentucky shooting 41% from deep, but the college three point line is closer and he was on a stacked team in college. The Suns do not have a lot that is going to entice defenders to leave Booker in the half court.
To think of Booker's skill set and then to look at his Synergy play type breakdowns is confusing. You would think that Booker would get a lot of his opportunities from spot ups, but he actually averages two possessions per game as a spot up threat. He gets the majority of his possessions in isolation, transition, and pick and roll situations.
In isolation situations, Booker is one of only 15 players that averaged more than 3 isolation possessions per game. While he is not exactly the most efficient in these situations, he rated out more efficiently than players like John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Jimmy Butler, and James Harden. The thing that sticks out to me in these numbers is that Booker is really good at getting to the line. More of his isolation plays end in and one opportunities than any of the 15 players on the list and he gets to the free throw line more than any of these players other than Damian Lillard. This is good news for his scoring, getting to the line can help push a player up in their scoring.
Devin Booker gets more than 20% of his offensive possessions in transition situations, which usually just means that the offense has an advantage in numbers. He is one of only 10 players in the league to get more than 4 transition possessions per game and the other nine players are players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Westbrook, Wall, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Of those 10, Booker rates out right in the middle in terms of field goal percentage and turnovers. His Suns teammate Eric Bledsoe is also on this list and it feels like the Suns benefit from running in transition. Booker is a big guard and he has some strength to finish, but he is not going over guys.
Booker was one of 28 players to run at least six pick and rolls as a ball handler per game and of those 28 he rated out numerically as one of the worst. He also ran the pick and roll less frequently as part of his overall offense than all of the other 27 players. Booker is not bad in running the pick and roll. He is not the most patient player and that can hurt him in terms of his efficiency. The best pick and roll players are patient guys that wait for the play to develop and also can get a feel for what is going to happen and react accordingly. These are things that come with time, Booker is only 20 years old in his 2nd year.
There are reasons to be excited as a Suns fan. Booker is good. He is someone that can be your star moving forward. The Suns are trying desperately to make deals for players that can lift their franchise, but they have not had any takers. It is hard to see Eric Bledsoe in their future and they could look to move him this season. Booker can shoot, he can score, and he tries on the defensive end. He can at times be inefficient, but the positives outweigh the negatives with Booker going into year 3.