How good is Booker?

[Hoop Head]

Weird, i searched for this thread using ‘booker’ in the title and only got the extension one.


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That is odd. I found this on the 2nd page towards the top. I knew it couldn't be that far back. Whatever, it's all good. The talk in the other thread was primarily about his extension so it fit there. There was another that questioned if Booker was a star, or if he'd become one, but I couldn't find that one. I knew it had mentioned Booker and star in the title though.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That is odd. I found this on the 2nd page towards the top. I knew it couldn't be that far back. Whatever, it's all good. The talk in the other thread was primarily about his extension so it fit there. There was another that questioned if Booker was a star, or if he'd become one, but I couldn't find that one. I knew it had mentioned Booker and star in the title though.

I remember that thread... I think I was firmly in the camp that he could be a great #2, fantastic #3, but not a #1.

But I was wrong. Dude’s a #1. Maybe not a top 5 #1 (LeBron, Stef, KD category) but def second tier #1 and who knows, might get to that level one day.

 

[SirStefan32]

I remember that thread... I think I was firmly in the camp that he could be a great #2, fantastic #3, but not a #1.

But I was wrong. Dude’s a #1. Maybe not a top 5 #1 (LeBron, Stef, KD category) but def second tier #1 and who knows, might get to that level one day.

Scary thing is that he is still just 21 years old. There is no telling how good that kid is going to be in a couple of years.

 

[Suns_fan69]

My biggest fear is that he'll end up being a Lilard type. Clear cut 31, max player, as clutch as they come, but ultimately hard to build a championship contender around.

 

[Errntknght]

My biggest fear is that he'll end up being a Lilard type. Clear cut 31, max player, as clutch as they come, but ultimately hard to build a championship contender around.

I don't follow the Blazers closely, but off the top of my head I'd say that their team management is more the problem than Lillard. C.J. is probably not the kind of SG to put next to him, for starters. They'd have done well to snap up Oladipo or someone like that who can defend better and defend bigger guys.
A few years ago they went on a spending binge where they overpaid for a half dozen players, none of whom really panned out. Nurkic was a pretty good move, but he really hasn't kept up his initial hot pace - he's an inefficient scorer for a C. Zach Collins was not a good draft pick for them - he doesn't bring much to the table and they're much more in need of wings. If they had to go big, John Collins would have been a much better pick as his efficient scoring in the paint would have covered for Nurkic's lack thereof.

They've almost fallen out of the playoff race since their spending spree, forget being in contention.

Anyway, I just don't see Lillard being the problem at all

 

[JustWinBaby]

Who has actually seen Doncic play a full game against legit competition?

If you haven't, how can you possibly make an evaluation on just stats and measurements?

I hope Sarver has the funds available to send McDonough to watch him play in real time not just highlight films.

We cannot afford to get this upcoming draft pick wrong.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I don't follow the Blazers closely, but off the top of my head I'd say that their team management is more the problem than Lillard. C.J. is probably not the kind of SG to put next to him, for starters. They'd have done well to snap up Oladipo or someone like that who can defend better and defend bigger guys.
A few years ago they went on a spending binge where they overpaid for a half dozen players, none of whom really panned out. Nurkic was a pretty good move, but he really hasn't kept up his initial hot pace - he's an inefficient scorer for a C. Zach Collins was not a good draft pick for them - he doesn't bring much to the table and they're much more in need of wings. If they had to go big, John Collins would have been a much better pick as his efficient scoring in the paint would have covered for Nurkic's lack thereof.

They've almost fallen out of the playoff race since their spending spree, forget being in contention.

Anyway, I just don't see Lillard being the problem at all

I don't necessarily disagree, but if you look at the Suns' composition, you could see how they could fall into a similar trap. We have a bunch of guys that aren't necessarily great fits around Booker (with the exception of Jackson, I think he's the right guy if his trajectory continues).

We have one or 2 more years before a series of contract extensions (Len, Booker, Bender, Chriss, Ulis) will more or less lock our rotation in place. I assume one or two of those guys - maybe even 3) will get cast aside, but with Warren locked in and Knight on the books, it's going to get expensive real fast.

Will the team get over the hump by then? Or will they be stuck in mediocrity where they are good, maybe even great, but not contender status. Obviously it's waaaay too early to worry about this as lots of things could change, but I'm not sure I have the confidence that McD has the know how to not land the Suns exactly where the Blazers are now.

That's my long term worry right now, as irrational as it probably is.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I don't necessarily disagree, but if you look at the Suns' composition, you could see how they could fall into a similar trap. We have a bunch of guys that aren't necessarily great fits around Booker (with the exception of Jackson, I think he's the right guy if his trajectory continues).

We have one or 2 more years before a series of contract extensions (Len, Booker, Bender, Chriss, Ulis) will more or less lock our rotation in place. I assume one or two of those guys - maybe even 3) will get cast aside, but with Warren locked in and Knight on the books, it's going to get expensive real fast.

Will the team get over the hump by then? Or will they be stuck in mediocrity where they are good, maybe even great, but not contender status. Obviously it's waaaay too early to worry about this as lots of things could change, but I'm not sure I have the confidence that McD has the know how to not land the Suns exactly where the Blazers are now.

That's my long term worry right now, as irrational as it probably is.

Why would anyone worry about The future contracts of Len, Ulis or even Chriss? Len’s will be gone or cheap next year. Ulis is a minimum deal if he is even in the league. Chriss is not in for a big deal unless something drastically changes. Dude. You worry too much.

 

[Ronin]

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[95pro]

I'm sure players ranked 1-5th played defense though, just guessing.

 

[Hoop Head]

I'm sure players ranked 1-5th played defense though, just guessing.

Wiggins and Melo are two of them, so I would say that's incorrect.

 

[95pro]

Wiggins and Melo are two of them, so I would say that's incorrect.

Yeah I didn't check, least wiggins comes up with a cool steal or block now and then.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Yeah I didn't check, least wiggins comes up with a cool steal or block now and then.

As has Booker. It's not the big plays he fails on, it's the routine ones. Not much different than Wiggins although Booker is probably(?) the lesser of the two defensively.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Wiggins and Melo are two of them, so I would say that's incorrect.

Melo doesn’t surprise me. But Wiggins does. Guess he got his shot earlier than booker his rookie season.

 

[Ronin]

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[CardsSunsDbacks]

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Wouldn't that also be including his heave at the end of regulation last night? So that would really be 5-8 for 62.5%.

 

[Finito]

The kid is nasty and last night would have been more than enough against a bunch of other teams but the Celtics are to good and Kyrie has proven to be big time aswell.

I remember last year him and Lillard went toe to toe down the stretch in a game. So much fun.

Glad to see him start challenging his teamates to raise there game.

 

[gimpy]

What little I saw of the game towards the end (couldn't watch it), I thought just the opposite. I know he had at least one turnover and a missed shot or two. All they had to do was score one point and they win. But seems (don't know who) just parked at the corners and threw up three point shots that weren't even close to going in.

 

[Yuma]

So like I said before. If I was GM you guiys would be pissed. We wouldn't have Bridges. I would have used the Miami pick, the Milwaukee pick, and whatever else to get Ayton and Doncic on the same draft to play with Booker. I probably would have had to keep Knight or take a lesser PG in the draft. After firing both barrels and succesfully getting Ayton and Doncic, I would have probably called all you guys to hit the nearest local bar for some celebratory libations!

 

[AzStevenCal]

So like I said before. If I was GM you guiys would be pissed. We wouldn't have Bridges. I would have used the Miami pick, the Milwaukee pick, and whatever else to get Ayton and Doncic on the same draft to play with Booker. I probably would have had to keep Knight or take a lesser PG in the draft. After firing both barrels and succesfully getting Ayton and Doncic, I would have probably called all you guys to hit the nearest local bar for some celebratory libations!

This is hindsight on my part but I would have drafted Ayton and used the Milwaukee and Miami picks to get Bridges and SGA. Sure, it might have cost us a little more than those 2 picks but I think it was within our reach.

 

[Yuma]

This is hindsight on my part but I would have drafted Ayton and used the Milwaukee and Miami picks to get Bridges and SGA. Sure, it might have cost us a little more than those 2 picks but I think it was within our reach.

OK. That's another way to do it. Maybe throw in our second rounders so we would be minus Okoboe and King, but who cares at that point?

 

[Ronin]

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[Errntknght]

This is hindsight on my part but I would have drafted Ayton and used the Milwaukee and Miami picks to get Bridges and SGA. Sure, it might have cost us a little more than those 2 picks but I think it was within our reach.

IIRC, McD tried to get SGA. That doesn't mean he couldn't have offered more and gotten him. While it was happening, I was hoping for Zaire Smith and Bridges. That wouldn't look so good in retrospect because Smith has been injured. I was rating him close to SGA...

 

[AzStevenCal]

IIRC, McD tried to get SGA. That doesn't mean he couldn't have offered more and gotten him. While it was happening, I was hoping for Zaire Smith and Bridges. That wouldn't look so good in retrospect because Smith has been injured. I was rating him close to SGA...

Yeah I think that came from Gambo but I don't know how accurate it was. I had some concerns about SGA but when it came out that we were trading up, I was sure he was our target (and pleased by it). I had no opinion on Bridges at the time but I really like watching him play now. Anyway, I think we could have offered a protected future pick plus the Miami and Milwaukee picks to get both of those guys.

 

[sunsfan88]

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Good read.