Devin Booker is heading into his 10th season in the NBA and with training camp for the Phoenix Suns slowly coming to an end before preseason, he is liking what he is seeing from his teammates around him and is enjoying the hard work that comes with this style of practices.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Everybody is ready to go. Great energy, fresh energy, new energy. We are having fun at the same time. A lot of conditioning, a lot of hard work, lot of competing,” Booker said on Thursday.
Multiple times during this camp, Booker has been seen smiling and having fun while knowing he has to put in the work. Practicing alongside Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Jusuf Nurkić and free agent signing Tyus Jones, the projected starting five have gotten more acclimated to each other day by day.
Preseason for the Suns officially begins on Sunday in Palm Springs, California when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers, the first game under new head coach Mike Budenholzer.
With Booker being the longest-tenured player on the team, he wants to show the newcomers and draft picks how to go about being a Sun.
“Trying to lead by example, lead by voice, get everyone on the same page. It’s that time where you get to work the kinks out and develop our chemistry, our identity,” Booker said. “Trying to make the fewest amount of mistakes that I can, at the same time play your hardest. Mistakes come but just limiting those and learning quicker than later.”
Phoenix has plenty of offensive weapons coming into the season, both from the starting five and on the bench. Grayson Allen, Damion Lee, Royce O’Neale, Monte Morris and others have contributed to their respective teams in the past and will look to carry on that trend this year.
But as one of the sticking points of why the Suns were unable to reach any playoff success a year ago, defense is something every individual is trying to improve on any chance they get.
With defense being a key point of emphasis heading into a new season, Booker explained that the team recognizes it can be an Achilles heel but if they can change that into a positive area of how the Suns operate, results will follow.
“I think that is our main focus. We know how talented we are offensively but the quicker we can gel, the quicker the communication is between everybody and holding each other accountable, we’ll be in a pretty good place.”
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
