Phoenix Suns: Is Devin Booker Ready For More Minutes?

The Phoenix Suns‘ affinity for playing two starting point guards together has become one of their calling cards, but with three backup shooting guards competing for minutes off the bench, not to mention a third point guard in Ronnie Price, Jeff Hornacek‘s backcourt rotation outside of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight has been all over the board.

That’s understandable for a team with so many young and/or new pieces. With Sonny Weems failing to seize his opportunity to be the first guard off the bench, Archie Goodwin became Hornacek’s first sub off the bench in four of the last five games.

It appeared as though Goodwin was ready to finally emerge as a legitimate NBA rotation player, but nothing was set in stone with Price missing two games due to a concussion.

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Price’s absence further complicated the matter, as did T.J. Warren‘s absence Wednesday night in a loss to the Chicago Bulls. Still, nights like that were a perfect reminder of why Goodwin, though currently ahead in the rotation, is still a work in progress…and why rookie Devin Booker is so valuable.

Against the Bulls Wednesday, Goodwin was once again one of the first subs to check in for the Suns. But coming off a game in which he tied his season high of 12 points for the third time, Goodwin was pretty much a disaster in the first half against Chicago, going 0-for-2 from the field, air-balling a three-pointer and going 0-for-2 from the foul line.

Goodwin has been better of late, especially on the defensive end, but since he’s only 21 years old there will still be nights like that where he just can’t get into a rhythm and makes stupid mistakes. On those nights, having a three-point marksman like Booker can really come in handy.

Phoenix didn’t get the win against Chicago Wednesday night, but Booker was a bright spot off the bench, finishing with six points on 2-of-2 shooting from three-point territory.

Both of his buckets came in the second half with the Suns needing a lift, and even though the crowd was split nearly 50-50 between Suns and Bulls fans, the purity of Booker’s swishes from downtown ignited the home fans in a way that you don’t often see from a 19-year-old.

A near steal as the clock wound down in the third quarter (at the end of the video below) nearly sent the crowd into a frenzy after a Price steal and layup had tied the game at 70.

Maybe Booker’s effect on the crowd is because by knocking down those threes, he’s doing what every Suns fan expects him to do. Maybe it’s because those were big shots, or maybe it’s because he’s a likable kid and everyone enjoys seeing a guy like that perform so well as a rookie.

But in any case, there’s a palpable hue of anticipation every time he catches the ball with enough space to launch a three. When that ball goes up, the crowd goes dead silent for a split second before going ballistic when it drops.

Unfortunately, as much as Booker’s long range bombs ignited the crowd, his mistakes on the defensive end helped get Jimmy Butler (32 points, 14 in the fourth quarter) going in the final period. On back-to-back possessions, Butler posted up Booker and baited him into biting on a pump fake. The second time he made the shot for a three-point play to put the Bulls up six.

“I thought he did a good job prior to that,” Hornacek said after the game. “The second time they got cross-matched, we wanted P.J. [Tucker] to get back on [Butler]. But he’s gonna learn. He’s gonna have times where the veteran guys kinda lull him into some things.”

Thus is the dichotomy of good and evil when it comes to playing rookies late in close games. While Booker knocked down a triple early in the fourth to give the Suns their first lead of the half, he immediately followed it up with two fouls to help swing momentum back in Chicago’s favor — fouls a more experienced player might not have made.

“Definitely a learning experience, he’s a really good player,” Booker said of guarding Butler. “As a rookie, you know they’re going to go at you. You try to have the mindset to not let them score inside, make them make tough shots. I tried to get blocks when I should’ve just made him make a tough fadeaway shot.”

To be fair, Booker did have two blocks on the night, one of which came on Butler after the Bulls’ shooting guard had blown by him off the dribble. You’ve also got to love that the Suns rookie apparently wasn’t backing down, even if he later denied that he said anything to Butler.

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On the night, Booker was a +9 in his 15 minutes of action. It’s also worth noting that he logged considerable minutes at the backup small forward position with Warren out, something that probably shouldn’t happen in the future. Though Booker is 6’6″, his play against Butler demonstrated he’s nowhere near being ready to check players of that size and skill set.

On the season, Booker is averaging 4.3 points in 9.1 minutes per game. He’s shot 13-for-26 from the floor (50 percent) and is 7-of-9 from three-point range (77.8 percent). It’s a teeny tiny sample size we’re dealing with here, but the Suns have outscored opponents by 3.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

The Suns’ backcourt rotation is not set in stone after Bledsoe and Knight, nor should it be. With Booker and Goodwin both being young players who are still working to be more consistent, it’s good that Hornacek can alternate between a more NBA-ready player who attacks the rim but can’t shoot and a slightly younger player with a higher ceiling who can spread the floor.

For the time being, Booker is just focusing on making the most of his minutes when he gets them, which makes sense since the rotation at his position is still very much up in the air — and probably will be on a night-to-night basis for the foreseeable future.

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“Just control the ‘controllables,’” Booker said. “When you get out there, just take advantage of your opportunity. You can’t control everything, but I’m young, I’m a rookie. I know a lot of people have been through it, so just keep working, keep grinding every day.”