Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, The Rookie Everyone’s Overlooking
Three-Point Shooting
When the Suns selected the Kentucky sharpshooter with the 13th overall pick, they were banking on his ability to spread the floor as the purest shooter in this year’s draft class. Booker has not only lived up to expectations so far, he’s blown them right out of the water.
Granted, we’re only in mid-December, but Devin Booker is shooting an absurd 73.9 percent from three-point range in his rookie year. That percentage leads all rookies who qualify (sorry Pat Connaughton, going one-for-one from downtown on the season doesn’t count here), with Booker draining an unbelievable 17 of his 23 three-point attempts.
Devin Booker has made 73.9% from 3(!) on his 23 attempts this year. There are 117 players who do not have a free throw percentage that high.
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) December 12, 2015
Will he continue to knock down the three-ball at such an otherworldly rate? Probably not. But the funny thing about Booker’s hot shooting is that it feels somewhat sustainable. Maybe not to that 74 percent degree, but most of Booker’s looks have been wide open, confident shots.
He’s made his last eight three-point attempts dating back to Dec. 2 and when he catches the ball in rhythm with space, there’s a palpable hue of anticipation as the ball goes up, followed by a split second of silence before it crashes through the net and ignites the home crowd. This 19-year-old’s stroke is as smooth as it sounds.
Even if Booker wasn’t showing surprising competence in the other facets of his game, he’s delivered on his patented shooting prowess and is living up to the Klay Thompson comparisons.
Next: Driving