Phoenix Suns: Is Gary Harris better than Devin Booker?
By Luke Swiatek
Conclusion
If you’ve gotten all the way through this article without your eyes glossing over even once, I commend you. It’s tough to read a steady stream of numbers and draw significant meaning from it, but that’s what the NBA’s nascent analytics age is all about.
Anyway, let’s answer the question posed at the beginning of the article: who is better, the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, or the Denver Nuggets’ Gary Harris?
First, a quick recap of each subcategory and who it went in favor of:
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- Pure shooting: Devin Booker
- Shot creation: Devin Booker
- Off-ball movement: Gary Harris
- Finishing: Gary Harris
- Playmaking: Devin Booker
- Rim protection/rebounding: Slightly Devin Booker
- Perimeter defense: Heavily Gary Harris
- Supporting cast: Devin Booker
- Age/contract: Slightly Devin Booker
It’s a closer race than one might expect. Gary Harris is the better cutter, and the vastly superior defender. He’s definitely an above-average player, even at the well-stocked shooting guard position.
However, he’s still not as good as Devin Booker. Booker is a transcendent offensive talent, who’s clearly better as a shooter, shot creator and distributor. He’s managed to be efficient and incredibly productive despite an utter lack of talent around him on the Phoenix Suns, and he’s still younger and more versatile than Harris.
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The Phoenix Suns’ star truly is a top-10 shooting guard in the NBA. Any NBA team would be lucky to have either player … but they’d be a little luckier to have Devin Booker.