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

1. Efficient scoring

With improved rebounding, assists, pick-and-roll dexterity and defensive effort, Devin Booker is clearly working to round out the weaker areas of his game. However, getting buckets will always be his main calling card, and so far in Year 3, he’s looking like a much more efficient, dynamic scorer.

Book is averaging the same amount of points — 22.1 per game — through eight games as he did last year, but the difference is he’s doing it on a much more respectable 45.4 percent shooting from the field, 41.7 percent shooting from 3-point range and 87.9 percent shooting from the foul line.

After posting .423/.363/.823 shooting splits as a sophomore, it’s encouraging to see his efficiency make that kind of leap, especially based on what he was able to accomplish as an inefficient gunner before turning 21:

In five games under Triano, Book is averaging 25.4 points per game on .484/.485/.958 shooting splits, including a true shooting percentage of 62.5.

With a 34-point, six-rebound, six-assist game in a losing effort against Portland, followed by a 32-point, seven-rebound, four-assist game against the Nets, Booker became the first Sun since Amar’e Stoudemire to record consecutive road games of 30+ points and 6+ rebounds, according to NBA.com.

That kind of hot shooting obviously isn’t sustainable, but it’s encouraging to see the variety of ways he’s getting his points. Not every Devin Booker possession is an isolation or a post-up anymore.

For starters, Booker is getting easy buckets on the break, averaging the 11th-most fast break points in the league at 5.0 per game. He’s not shy about attacking the basket and is taking that to new levels early in 2017-18:

For another thing, he’s no longer dribbling the air out of the ball. He’s getting the rock in position to score and has been decisive about making his move right away. This not only keeps the rock moving, but it also frees him up for more catch-and-shoot opportunities.

On spot-up attempts, Booker’s 1.4 points per possession rank 21st in the NBA, putting him in the 91st percentile. He’s shooting 61.5 percent on such shots, with an 80.8 effective field goal percentage, but unfortunately, these shots only come with an 8.5 percent frequency.

The Suns would do well to boost this last number, since Booker is clearly growing more comfortable coming off screens and hoisting:

Part of that has to do with Triano’s drastically improved offense, which makes better use of playmakers like James, Ulis, Bender and even rookie Josh Jackson to make life easier on the team’s most gifted scorer.

This pass from this year’s No. 4 overall pick is a little late, but it eventually finds its mark for an easy spot-up 3 for Booker:

Eight games is a small sample size, but Booker is 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) this season on catch-and-shoot attempts from 3-point range. That conversion rate ranks 27th among 151 players with at least 15 catch-and-shoot attempts from downtown, per NBA.com.

Booker is also shooting 50 percent on catch-and-shoot looks overall, which ranks 15th among players with at least 20 such attempts. For comparison, Bookers’ 67.9 effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot attempts puts him ahead of notorious snipers like Klay Thompson, Danny Green, Stephen Curry, C.J. McCollum and Kevin Durant.

As is the case in the pick-and-roll, Booker is learning to take advantage of defenders frantically trying to take the open look away, using pump fakes to free himself up for those mid-range jumpers he loves while expertly keeping defenders on his back:

Devin Booker had a ton of areas he needed to improve heading into a potential breakout year. From his nonexistent defense to his inefficient scoring to his lack of contributions in the other areas of the stat sheet, there were plenty of nits to pick with his game.

Next: Phoenix Suns - 5 early observations in the Jay Triano era

Though we’re only done with about 10 percent of the 2017-18 NBA season, all early signs point to this 21-year-old being ready to make the leap in Year 3.