Phoenix Suns: 5 Reasons To Keep Watching In A Lost Season

1. Book The Rook

You were expecting John Jenkins?

It’s no secret that Devin Booker has long been the lone bright spot in this dismally gloomy season. As the youngest player in the NBA, this 19-year-old rookie has not only managed to find minutes in what figured to be a crowded shooting guard rotation, but he’s cemented himself as a franchise building block for the future.

Though he recently hit the unavoidable rookie wall, Booker has regrouped pretty quickly, averaging 24.0 points and 4.2 assists per game on .441/.367/.871 shooting splits for the month of March. In that five-game span, he’s also scored a career-high 34 points that earned some high praise from Dwyane Wade.

Originally pegged as little more than a spot-up shooter, Booker has proven himself to be a far more versatile player. He’s attacked the basket well, he’s shown he can be a secondary playmaker out of pick-and-roll sets and at only 19 years old, he’s only going to get better moving forward.

"“He’s starting to read,” Watson said before the Knicks game. “Peyton Manning had a great media bit where he talked about mastering anyone by out-preparing and outworking them, he’s like a master at what he did during his career, watching film. “I sent that over to Book and I told Book, ‘This is how you have to prepare. We talk about becoming the best at what you do. It’s not just getting into the gym and getting shots and getting reps and working hard in practice, it’s the other things. It’s watching film, it’s preparing, it’s knowing every pin-down defense that the Knicks have tonight because we have it broken down and sorted.’ So it’s basically studying as if he is a coach, because he wants to visualize and prepare before the game happens.”"

The fact that Booker is making these strides while looking so poised and sporting one of the sweetest shooting strokes in the league certainly doesn’t hurt either.

With 32 points Wednesday night against the Knicks, Booker became the third player in franchise history to score 30 points three times as a rookie, joining Suns Ring of Honor members Walter Davis and Alvan Adams.

Len is still the team’s No. 1 option for now, but that’s helped take the pressure off of Booker and recapture the more efficient shooting numbers he was posting earlier in the season. Since the start of 2016, Booker is averaging 17.1 points and 3.1 assists per game, ranking third among all rookies in both categories.

More hoops habit: NBA Power Rankings: Week 20

If you’re looking for a reason to keep watching the 2015-16 Phoenix Suns in this lost season, look no further than the team’s youngest player and biggest bright spot for the future.