Phoenix Suns: 5 goals for Devin Booker in 2017-18

3. Average 25 points per game

Typically, most NBA superstars make “the leap” in their third season in the league. We’ve seen it recently with guys like Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and young studs entering their third year like Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis are expected to follow similar paths in 2017-18.

No one should confuse Devin Booker’s ceiling with the two-way potential of those aforementioned superstars, but anyone who’s been paying attention knows his scoring ability is off the charts.

That 70-point game in Boston doesn’t mean he’s going to be the NBA’s next big thing, but it does signify this kid is probably going to be getting buckets in this league for a long time.

Book won’t turn 21 years old until a few games into the upcoming season, but he just averaged 22.1 points per game last year — joining Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players in NBA history to average at least 22 points per game in a season before turning 21.

Even better, the Suns have the pieces in place to make Booker successful. He has talent around him to avoid putting too much pressure on an adolescent, but the offense will still be tailored around getting him shots. He’s the face of the franchise, and if he can be more efficient in year three, he could conceivably put up 25-26 points per game.

His defensive progress is what will eventually determine whether he can become a legitimate superstar or if he’ll just be another dynamic scorer, but for the upcoming season, averaging 25 points per game doesn’t seem too unrealistic.