Phoenix Suns: 5 Takeaways From Exit Interviews

2. The Suns Believe Devin Booker Will Be A Superstar

For those outside of the Valley of the Sun, Devin Booker is either a talented young player with potential, or he’s a cocky, overhyped youngster who’s simply putting up good numbers on a bad team.

For those who have been following the team closely, he’s Kobe Bryant reincarnate, only this time, wearing a Suns jersey. Within the organization, the question is not if Booker will be a legitimate superstar and face of the franchise, but when.

"“I think when you have a 20-year-old score 70 points in a game that makes you feel pretty good that he’s going to be pretty good in the future,” McDonough joked."

Booker’s historic 70-point game certainly put him on the map, but the second-year phenom was having a very good season even without it. After shaking off an early toe injury, Booker went on to average 22.1 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game for the season, shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 36.3 percent from deep.

He wasn’t the most efficient player, and his defense still needs work. But once Booker’s three-point shot started falling he was one of the more dangerous offensive weapons in the league at his position, regardless of age. Since the calendar flipped to 2017, Booker averaged 24.5 points per game on .436/.390/.836 shooting splits.

"“With what he’s done at his age — not only in terms of his play on the court, but the excitement he’s brought to the fan base and the community, how he’s handled himself on and off the court, and just the fact that he’s up there with the legends of the game and future Hall of Famers, I think he passed Kobe Bryant the other day to go into the top four for scoring by a player under 21 — that’s unique,” McDonough said."

Booker indeed passed Kobe Bryant for the fourth-most points in NBA history for a player under the age of 21. The three players ahead of him? Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

Every new accomplishment Booker adds to his individual resume puts him in similarly rarified air, and his 70-point explosion made him just the sixth player in NBA history to reach that threshold.

Booker led the league in 20-point quarters with six, he stole the spotlight from Russell Westbrook on a night where the MVP frontrunner was supposed to make history and he seems genuinely dedicated to restoring a once proud franchise to its winning ways.

"“I never set a limit on myself,” Booker said. “People always ask me that after my 70-point game, they didn’t think I could score 70 points in a game and I always said I never set a limit on my game. It’s good, individual accomplishments, but at the end of the day I’m here to be a winner and to turn around the franchise and turn us back into where we used to be, and that’s winning a lot of games. So that’s my focus right now.”"

At 20 years old, Booker is already the face of the Suns, which he believes he’s built for. From being active in the community to carrying himself well off the court to his actual on-court performance, Booker has the makings of a superstar and seems willing to take on the burdens of that responsibility.

So what’s the next step for a future superstar? McDonough said the Suns will be working with Booker over the summer to strengthen his lower body in order to help him get in better defensive stance so he’s able to slide and guard his position better.

With stars like LeBron, Kobe, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki complimenting his game and his future in this league, it’d be easy for Booker to be conceited or grow complacent.

But even though he relishes the chance to be the bad guy on the court (and even off it, with his comments about Troy Daniels being a recent example), Devin Booker is not taking anything for granted.

"“It means a lot [to hear that praise],”he said. “Those are living legends, guys that I idolized and tried to make my game after them. You always hear stories about LeBron, you hear stories about Kobe and it’s all about their work ethic, their competitiveness, their will to win and those are all similarities I see in myself. It’s a big statement coming from them but it just shows you I’m on the right path, but I still have a lot, lot more to go.”"