2015 was a time to be alive for a Phoenix Suns fan. Well, not at first maybe. Maybe fast forwarding to June 25, 2015 was a time to be alive. Prior to that, the Suns were heading nowhere fast.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Yet after selecting Devin Booker with the 13th pick, Phoenix regained a bit of spark in the drought that had become of the franchise… a franchise that hadn’t necessarily opted for a rebuild yet seemed destined for one.
Fast forward, and Booker is destined to be the face of the Suns franchise throughout the tenure of his career. He’s overcome all the hurdles: second-year slumps, early critics, and hopeful doubters. The Kentucky star took on a Phoenix franchise with no real identity that allowed him to control the reigns of his early career.
The obvious goal for Booker, on paper at least, is to lead Phoenix back to the NBA Finals. The personal question for Booker though, is he can he truly win MVP next season?
The CompetitionÂ
There’s been seasons in yesteryears where the finalists for MVP may have had a large margin in odds. LeBron James’ back-to-back MVP awards with the Miami Heat felt destined early on. Even James Harden was bound for the award after the monstrous 2017-2018 season he tallied up with the Houston Rockets.
That’s not the case anymore. Talent is practically stockpiled around the league, and it’s not allocated to just one age group. Booker belongs in a group of players that are tasked with maintaining the prominence of the league for the future. Those often include names such as Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum and others. Even so, James and others like Kevin Durant, both a part of the superstar 30-and-over club, will be in contention for the MVP award as well.
From Booker’s age range to James, Booker still fares well with his peers. He ranked 19th in season leaders last year, finishing third amongst off-ball guards. It’s lightyears from being tied for 31st the season prior.
The case can be made that he’s leapfrogged competition at his position such as Dejounte Murray, Bradley Beal and Harden, all of whom have respectively held a higher ranking in the past two seasons. Even more, Harden’s settling into a more passive role could see Booker surpass the former MVP.
Still, Booker’s competition unfortunately won’t stop at age or position rank. There’s reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and runner-ups Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid that’ll be vying for the spot as well. While definitely not in the older batch, all three big men are in the 27-28 range, giving way to the prime era of their careers.
The Trend
The obstacles for Booker don’t simply stop at competition. Where the league is trending has historically played a major part in awards. Prior to Marcus Smart winning the DPOY award last season, no guard had won it since Gary Payton.
That same notion can be said for MVPs. The last four awards have gone to big men, with Jokic and Antetokounmpo nabbing two a piece. If this was from 2015-2018, no one would doubt the trend that another guard would grab the MVP award. Stephen Curry (twice), Russell Westbrook, and Harden had occupied the award during that time span.
Now, that spot is owned by the bigs of the world. That much is evident given that three big men finished in the top three for voting last season. The only guard to be close to said award in recent years was Curry for the 2020-21 season. It seems as though team executives along with media are preferring the talent scope of centers and forwards given the recent magnitude of the voting.
Booker can certainly break that mold, but he’ll have to up his game in certain areas. After all, the MVP race can truly be a numbers game. Booker finished last season with 4.8 assists per game. In perspective, Harden — the last guard to win the MVP award — averaged 8.8 assists during his MVP campaign. The highest Booker has tallied in the dime-dropping area was during the 2018-19 season with 6.8 assists. The eventual hope is that Booker can relieve Paul from much of his floor general duties. With that will come more opportunities to set teammates up for easy scoring.
