Phoenix Suns: 5 early signs Devin Booker is making the leap

4. Playmaking

Devin Booker is never going to be a James Harden-type of playmaker at the 2, but he has underrated court vision, usually makes the right pass when the defense is forced to rotate and has shown immediate improvement with getting his teammates more involved on the offensive end.

Averaging a career-high 4.4 assists per game so far this year, Booker is leading the Suns in that category and has three more assists than starting point guard Mike James (who has played 76 fewer minutes, but still).

Earl Watson placed an emphasis on letting Booker create with the ball in his hands more frequently this season, and that has continued under Triano. In five games under the interim head coach, Booker has increased his assists to 4.6 per game, with many of them being the result of quickly moving the ball to an open — and recently, more confident — teammate:

We’ll get to the pick-and-roll in a bit, but now that Booker is more cognizant of the attention he draws with the ball in his hands, he’s ably manipulating defenses to make life easier for his teammates.

Just look at how he feels the defense hounding him coming off this curl screen from Marquese Chriss, which sets up a gorgeous one-handed alley-oop once he catches the ball and draws in both defenders:

Booker’s high basketball I.Q. is expanding to learn how to make defenses pay when he’s double-teamed, which is happening more and more often these days.

For example, against the Los Angeles Lakers, when he feels the double-team coming, he reverses his dribble to get out of it, surveys the court for the open man and makes the smart cross-court pass to a trailing Dragan Bender for the open 3:

Coming off a screen in that same game, he buys time with a hesitation dribble, maneuvers his way toward the baseline and rewards T.J. Warren for making a clever cut to the rim.

Given Warren’s penchant for freeing himself up near the basket, this kind of play is exactly what Suns fans should love to see from their developing chemistry:

Booker is averaging 2.8 turnovers per game, which could stand to improve but isn’t terrible given most NBA superstars who have the ball in their hands so often average a higher number.

On an encouraging note, Booker has racked up 10 assists on 71 drives so far this season. Among 35 players with at least 70 drives, Book ranks 14th in assist percentage — ahead of names like Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, Ben Simmons, LeBron James and Damian Lillard.

As D’Angelo Russell can attest, an improving handle certainly doesn’t hurt (even if this particular play resulted in a pull-up floater).

Mike James and Tyler Ulis are crafty playmakers at the point guard spot, but Booker is quietly making great strides in the playmaking area of his game.