Phoenix Suns: Has Devin Booker Hit The Rookie Wall?

With defenses keying in on Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker, the 19-year-old has finally hit the rookie wall.

It’s amazing how just a few weeks in this league can drastically change public perception, especially when it comes to an NBA rookie. After the 2015 NBA Draft, some Phoenix Suns fans were disappointed the team didn’t emerge with a power forward to address a “position of need” in case Markieff Morris was traded.

With names like Bobby Portis and Montrezl Harrell still on the board, Booker’s spot-up shooting was a specialty skill that figured to translate right away, but no one knew he’d get his chance to contribute that soon. The Suns were supposed to be fighting for a playoff spot and Brandon Knight, Sonny Weems and Archie Goodwin were all ahead on the depth chart at a crowded position.

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We all know what happened from there: the Suns failed to live up to expectations, injuries to Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and eventually T.J. Warren decimated the roster, and then Phoenix took those failed expectations and flushed them completely down the toilet. Those aren’t ideal conditions for a rookie in his first NBA season, but they are well suited for Booker receiving as many minutes as possible.

The 2015-16 season was lost long before the Suns lost 28 of their last 30 games, including an ongoing 13-game skid that has tied the longest single-season streak in franchise history. In a season that’s been peppered with constant new lows, head coach Jeff Hornacek being fired and the Suns’ startling descent into “worst team in the league” territory, the only bright spot for fans was the play of their NBA-ready, 19-year-old rookie.

The only problem is, over the last few weeks, Suns fans haven’t even had that to feel good about.

Early on in the season, Booker slowly but surely carved out a bench role for himself in Hornacek’s rotation. That rotation was subject to night-to-night changes, but Booker made 20 of his first 37 three-point attempts in the NBA, shooting 54.1 percent from deep to lead all qualified rookies.

That number was never going to last, especially when Bledsoe’s injury thrust Booker into the starting rotation in late December. Since then, each new injury the Suns sustained in the backcourt — Knight, Ronnie Price and even T.J. Warren — has taken its toll on the rookie’s efficiency and the team runs lower and lower on options.

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On the season, Booker is averaging 10.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.6 minutes per game. He’s shooting 43.2 percent from the floor, 39.6 percent from three-point range and 83.1 percent from the foul line. His future is certainly bright, though his -5.5 plus/minus is the second worst out of all 21 players to suit up for the Suns this year, with Tyson Chandler (-6.7) being last.

A horrendous point differential is to be expected from every player on a team with the third worst record in the NBA, especially since Booker still has a lot of work to do on the defensive end. But his efficiency on offense has also taken a dive in February, even if that trend had been developing ever since he was named a starter.

In 27 games this season with the starting unit, Booker is averaging a healthy 14.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 31.9 minutes per game, with .408/.325/.849 shooting splits and a -11.3 point differential. His raw numbers were much lower off the bench (6.5 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.8 APG, 14.7 MPG), but he was a lot more efficient against opposing teams’ second units (.496/.622/.767 shooting, +0.7).

Bringing Booker off the bench to maximize his efficiency is no longer an option, however. An injury-ravaged roster has launched Devin Booker into the rookie wall a bit sooner than people were anticipating, since defenses are now keying in on him as the team’s top option.

“Yeah, it’s really tough,” Booker said of the extra attention after Phoenix’s recent loss to the San Antonio Spurs. “A lot of teams are denying me now or doubling pick-and-rolls, so I just have to make other people better. That’s leaving a lot of people open, A-Len [Alex Len] got a couple of good looks today off of it, so I’m just gonna keep doing that, playing winning basketball.”

Booker’s commitment to becoming a more well-rounded player is commendable, and he’s tallied at least four assists in four of his nine February games, including a 10-assist outing against Golden State where he finished three rebounds shy of his first career triple-double.

His playmaking as the ball-handler on pick-and-rolls has been fairly impressive for a 19-year-old, and this experience with making plays of the dribble will only benefit him in the long run.

But the departure of Markieff Morris has made the impact of his collision with the rookie wall just a little more violent, with Booker’s numbers dropping to 9.3 points, 2.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game on .262/.333/.909 shooting splits in the four games since Keef was traded.

That’s a tiny sample size, and it’s worth noting that Phoenix’s first three opponents in that stretch were the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers, but Booker’s -22.5 point differential in that span is atrocious nonetheless.

“I think it’s a combination of things,” interim head coach Earl Watson said before the team’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets. “I think what Devin is realizing is that when you’re the first option in this league, every team prepares for you and not only do they put their best defender on you, they find a way to physically grab you, hit you, shove you, stay inside of you and make it tougher for you to get your shot.”

Watson cited Reggie Miller as the kind of player that Booker could learn from, given the way Miller always managed to free himself up despite his slender frame by initiating contact with his defender first.

“He would shove him off, run, stop and shove him off again, then catch it and shoot,” Watson said. “You’d think, ‘Oh, that’s easy to pick up,’ but if you’re constantly shoving off and shoving off, playing defense, fighting over screens, using your forearms, you wear out in your upper body. You get tired. For a 19-year-old to experience that is great.”

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Booker’s father Melvin, who played professionally in the NBA and in Italy, seems to agree with his son’s new coach after the two were getting their haircut and had a conversation about all the attention defenses are giving the 19-year-old rookie now.

“This is interesting coming from a parent, [Melvin Booker] said, ‘Oh, this is great,'” Watson recalled. “Devin Booker is like, ‘Dad, you see how defenses are preparing against me? I’m only 19.’ And he [Devin’s father] is like, ‘This is the NBA, this is great for him to hit these challenges.'”

That may be true, even if Booker’s struggles have been noticeable. In a lost season, few people are going to remember how Booker struggled to adjust to being the team’s No. 1 option on offense since the kid is still two years away from being able to legally purchase alcohol.

The uptick in minutes certainly hasn’t helped since the physical toll is an adjustment for all rookies, and it’s worth noting that the team’s point guards over the last few weeks have not been the most impressive bunch, with Archie Goodwin (a shooting guard), Ronnie Price (three games played since Jan. 6) and Phil Pressey (10-day contract) filling the role.

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But these growing pains are good for Booker in the long run, even if they come with the dreaded label of “hitting the rookie wall.”

“When you face the best defenders at 19 and when you’re 24, 23, 28 and you see a young defender who you barely know his name try to defend you, the first thing you think about is, ‘He has no clue who Tony Allen is, I faced Tony Allen,'” Watson said. “‘I faced the toughest defenders, this is going to be an easy night.’ It gives you confidence and it gives him an edge.”