Phoenix Suns: 5 Adjustments That Need To Be Made

1. Get Devin Booker Easier Looks

Against Houston, Devin Booker had more dunks (four) than he had all season (one). His final dunk, with the outcome no longer in doubt, was a downright vicious way to end to Kyle Wiltjer‘s fledgling NBA career.

It was also a perfectly appropriate display of anger from a talented 20-year-old whose shooting struggles probably wouldn’t be so extensive if the Suns were making life easier on him.

“Yeah, it did but at the same time [I’m] still angry,” Booker said when asked if the dunk represented the frustration from yet another tough loss. “We’re in a slump right now, overall as a team.”

Booker isn’t wrong, and his own struggles are pretty indicative of Phoenix’s offensive problems. Not giving a second-year player control of the offense as a playmaker is one thing, but expecting him to carry the load in isolation sets without providing him quality looks is another entirely.

Averaging 19.1 points per game on .412/.326/.807 shooting splits, the start of Booker’s sophomore season has been a bit of a disappointment. Though he’s been much better lately and has put up a couple of standout performances, it’s been a very hot-or-cold season so far.

Booker was frequently compared to Klay Thompson coming into the draft, and while he can do more offensively than Klay could at that point in his career, his greatest potential strength — as a catch-and-shoot threat on the wing — has been underutilized by a stagnant offense.

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Booker is taking 4.4 catch-and-shoot field goal attempts per game, per NBA.com, which ranks him  48th in the NBA. He’s only shooting 32 percent on those looks because so many of them are contested, and his 3.4 three-point catch-and-shoot attempts per game ranks 50th in the association.

Unfortunately, 295 of Booker’s 471 total field goal attempts (62.6 percent) have been what NBA.com refers to as “contested,” with the nearest defender being 0-4 feet away. He’s shooting 39.7 percent on those shots, compared to a more respectable 43.2 percent on looks with the nearest defender 4+ feet away.

Booker got off to a great start with his isolation scoring, but he now ranks in the 57th percentile in that category. He’s shooting just 40.6 percent on iso looks, per NBA.com, and his 13.9 percent frequency on isolation plays ranks 32nd in the league — far too high for a 20-year-old who would better serve the offense if the Suns started running more sets designed to get him easy looks.

Next: 2016-17 NBA Power Rankings: Week 9

Devin Booker is the future of the Phoenix Suns, and as much as growing pains were to be expected from a second-year player under a rookie head coach, the offense really needs to start tailoring itself to help its most promising offensive weapon, not the other way around.