It’s time to quit babying Booker

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Look i had no illusions that he’s a young famous millionaire. But I thought he’s be a whole hell of a lot smarter than leaving a litter trailing behind him. If I recall correctly he has a solid familial background too. So surprising and disappointing if true. And I emphasize the “if true.”
 

sdscard4

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They actually played better without him trade him for a stud PG and good starter. It's just going to get worse
 

AzStevenCal

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They actually played better without him trade him for a stud PG and good starter. It's just going to get worse

This makes zero sense. You think we play better without him, fine. Trade him. But who in the world is going to give you a stud PG and a good starter for a player that you believe makes a really bad team even worse?
 

sdscard4

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This makes zero sense. You think we play better without him, fine. Trade him. But who in the world is going to give you a stud PG and a good starter for a player that you believe makes a really bad team even worse?
He's a max player some who consider a superstar you don't think he can get a great haul?
 

AzStevenCal

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He's a max player some who consider a superstar you don't think he can get a great haul?

If he's a superstar why in the world would we trade him? If he's not a superstar why in the world would other teams give us superstar value in return? We haven't seen the real Devin Booker this season due to injuries so judging him when he's playing at less than 100% makes little sense to me. But if we're going to give up on him, it should be when he's healthy and playing his best, not when his value is sliding downward.

Also, right now he's not a max player, not even close. His new contract doesn't kick in until next year and by then it still probably won't even put him in the top 30 for salary - point being, not all max contracts are created equal.
 

sunsfan88

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This makes zero sense. You think we play better without him, fine. Trade him. But who in the world is going to give you a stud PG and a good starter for a player that you believe makes a really bad team even worse?
Not a stud PG but if Washington misses the playoffs then I would trade Booker to the Wizards for Beal, Satoransky and their lottery pick. Everyone talks about Beal being injury prone but I feel like Booker is headed down that same path so it’s a wash for me there. Obviously Beal is 3 years older but I think he fits the team better as he’s more of a 2 way player that plays both ends. Washington needs to rebuild and can blow it up and perhaps net another lottery pick for Wall from some other team. They can do a lot worse than building around a 22 yr old Booker.

The main play for the Suns would be to package the Wizards lottery pick and the Suns own lottery pick to move up in the draft. If that doesn’t work then they get 2 chances in the likely top 10 to get an impact player.

This certainly wouldn’t be a popular move and 99% of Suns would probably riot if it happened but I feel like it’s time to try something different and maybe go in a different direction. The Suns would never do it of course because of the reasons mentioned of the popularity. I’ve grown tired of the amount of blowout losses and perhaps a change of scenery can benefit both Booker and Beal some.
 

swagron

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Washington would never do that deal. No disrespect, but Beal is better than Booker in more parts of his game and Satoransky is no slouch himself. Washington would be taking a step back in this 2 for 1 scenario.
 

ColdPickleNachos

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Don't trade Booker. There's not a player in NBA history who hasn't had doubters at some point.

Michael Jordan was a degenerate gambler whose scoring prowess didn't translate into enough team success. He was 24 before his team won its first playoff series and 27 before his first championship. The guy punched teammates. Who could win with a guy like that?

Magic Johnson was a choke artist until he wasn't. (The baby hook didn't matter to many by 1984).
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Shaq was too focused on bad rapping and bad movies to make free throws.

James Harden was the worst defensive player in NBA history. http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=14921784

Steph Curry got a lowball contract in 2012 because teams feared he was injury prone.

Is Booker even in the same league as those players? Not even close at the moment. But none of them were finished projects at age 22.

Booker has flashed the ability to be special. In a league where a superstar with the ability to take over games is still key, you don't trade Booker. You build around him with complementary parts.

Ayton...Great start. Bridges, Oubre, and Jackson are potentially nice pieces. Now go get him a point guard the other team has to scheme against and at least one player who can play defense at the 4 in this league and see what happens.
 

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Booker just came back and people want to trade him? One game back is not enough to determine if he hurts the team more than he helps it. If the Suns put Booker on the market right now, not saying they should, but that would probably scare a number of teams off because everyone would question why we maxed him and then decided to trade him before that extension even kicks in. Good luck getting a good return based on his $3.3 million cap hit this year anyways.
 

SirStefan32

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Booker just came back and people want to trade him? One game back is not enough to determine if he hurts the team more than he helps it. If the Suns put Booker on the market right now, not saying they should, but that would probably scare a number of teams off because everyone would question why we maxed him and then decided to trade him before that extension even kicks in. Good luck getting a good return based on his $3.3 million cap hit this year anyways.

Fans tend to be very reactionary. One bad game and they want to trade the best player on the team. If he were to mget traded, the same people would be screaming about how terrible Jones and Sarver are.
 

AzStevenCal

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Fans tend to be very reactionary. One bad game and they want to trade the best player on the team. If he were to mget traded, the same people would be screaming about how terrible Jones and Sarver are.

And at that point I'd be right there with them unless the medical staff or the legal/pr people prompted the move.
 

Covert Rain

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Trade booker? People stop! You would never get equal value out of another team and 90% of the teams in the last 10 drafts are still looking for players like him.

Stop!
 

Krangodnzr

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Not a stud PG but if Washington misses the playoffs then I would trade Booker to the Wizards for Beal, Satoransky and their lottery pick. Everyone talks about Beal being injury prone but I feel like Booker is headed down that same path so it’s a wash for me there. Obviously Beal is 3 years older but I think he fits the team better as he’s more of a 2 way player that plays both ends. Washington needs to rebuild and can blow it up and perhaps net another lottery pick for Wall from some other team. They can do a lot worse than building around a 22 yr old Booker.

The main play for the Suns would be to package the Wizards lottery pick and the Suns own lottery pick to move up in the draft. If that doesn’t work then they get 2 chances in the likely top 10 to get an impact player.

This certainly wouldn’t be a popular move and 99% of Suns would probably riot if it happened but I feel like it’s time to try something different and maybe go in a different direction. The Suns would never do it of course because of the reasons mentioned of the popularity. I’ve grown tired of the amount of blowout losses and perhaps a change of scenery can benefit both Booker and Beal some.

If I were Washington, I wouldnt throw in a lottery pick. Beal > Booker.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Booker just came back and people want to trade him? One game back is not enough to determine if he hurts the team more than he helps it. If the Suns put Booker on the market right now, not saying they should, but that would probably scare a number of teams off because everyone would question why we maxed him and then decided to trade him before that extension even kicks in. Good luck getting a good return based on his $3.3 million cap hit this year anyways.
We live in a time of reactivity.
 

sunsfan88

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Yeah I was laughing about the package for booker. I think most nba folks would rate veal over booker.
Yeah but how would they rate each player’s ceiling? Plus Beal can walk in 2.5 years (and there’s been reports he’s grown tired of Washington) while Booker is locked up for 5.5 years all while being 3 years younger as well.

I highly doubt the Wizards could get any better offers for Bradley Beal.
 

Ronin

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More realistic? CJ McCollum for Devin Booker straight up?
 

Krangodnzr

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More realistic? CJ McCollum for Devin Booker straight up?

Nope. I'd take McCollum over Booker still.

Booker is still mainly a projection. He's a good player, but he's been pretty poor at elevating the talent around him.

I like Booker, but honestly he still isn't quite worth the contract he was given, and this year has done nothing to alleviate my concerns. The fact that we have to talk about how badly he pairs with TJ and some posters are even talking about trading him illustrates this.

I'll give him another year and If I see what I see today, I'll probably start to think about trading him. His upside is still there but honestly, he's starting to worry me a smidge.
 

SirStefan32

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I am still high on Booker. I do not want to trade him. I think we all forget that he is only 22. For reference, Mccollum is 27, Beal is 25.
I am telling you guys, the roster is not good, and the Suns winning a couple of games without Booker is fool's gold. Those are isolated of 100% fluke. Booker is a REALLY good player at the age of 22.
 
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