The Suns are making progress on a five-year, $158MM extension with Devin Booker, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic.
Phoenix presented the offer to Booker at a meeting today. A source tells Bordow that parameters of the deal were outlined and describes the session as “productive,” citing “mutual interest from both sides in working to finalize a deal.”
Booker quickly emerged as an offensive force for the Suns after being taken with the 13th pick in the 2015 draft. He posted career highs across the board in his third season with 24.9 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.5 RPG.
The $158MM figure is an estimate based on current cap projections, but the final value won’t be set until next season’s official figures are in place.
Booker and the Suns have until the day before the season starts to complete an extension, but it sounds like the two sides may be able to finalize a deal not long after the July moratorium ends on Friday.
Big mistake. Dude is overglorfied for his offensive output on a lottery team. Usually the worst defender on the court and will only get worse as he ages.
What do you mean brother … he’s rated higher than most shooting guards than are not half bad at defense such as Caldwell pope and per nba statcast he’s actually rated higher in defense where’s 111 and offense he’s 101
Ayyyeeeee get dat money and run boi. At 42% FG, 36% 3P & 18.1 per you might not ever see it again.
He’s 21, only will get better
Haters hate. Booker has some of the best foot work in the league with a pure stroke and a great demeanor. Anyone who doesn’t see his 1st option potential is an idiot
That’s still a lot of money for a “Potential” 1st option. It will probably turn out in the Suns favor, but max contracts are for proven-elite players.
They should have waited to pay him. They have a lot of cap space moving forward, but they could have had even more flexibility heading into next year, where they could potentially make a play for 1-2 guys if they look decent enough this year…
They should buyout or stretch Jared Dudley and Troy Daniels, and cut their non guarantees and poison pill Marcus Smart
This is a goodwill gesture for Phoenix to say its sorry for upsetting Booker for cutting Ulis. Either way, Booker was going to get the max (or near max), whether it was in Phoenix or from another team.
Booker is doing everything right to get the big paycheck. Hopefully Ayton will tolerate him, else Wiggins/Towns.
He is kind of a million times better with a billion times more potential than Wiggins, so my point is that Booker will get a max, either in Phoenix or elsewhere, so they must do this to keep him, otherwise if this teams don’t lock their stars, where is the point in going through a rebuilt, you draft a star/superstar caliber player & then you wanna go cheap on him, so you loose him. Just pay this are the best ever spent 30+MM/year Phoenix will have had. Just like with Jokic, no point in trying to be cheap with your stars so you can improve a rotational piece here or there, you can get anyone for the rotation, you cannot get a star, as simple as, you will only win thanks to guys like that, not little improvements in the team. Bookers numbers are absolutely otherworldly for his age, regardless been in a good or bad team, doesn’t matter, if you are in a good team can be easy as you might be 2nd/3rd option & teams have to focus in another players in Phoenix they only have to cover him, so at 20-21 scoring like he does when all the defences of the teams only focus in him makes it unbelievable.
I agree completely. Obviously Wiggins will have the higher ceiling since his size would make him more of a threat on offense and he could be a lockdown defender on defense if he put enough effort into it. But if I had to choose right now who I would rather give a max contract (assuming contracts would be the same for both guys), I’d rather have Booker. He’s more offensively polished and could fit next to any other star player. Wiggins is a little more one-dimensional and wouldn’t be a good fit next to a lot of other star players.
Booker getting the max was never in doubt, and the early extension has to be at least considered. The early extension provisions were put in the CBA quite awhile ago at the request of small market teams looking to keep their young stars off even the RFA market. They were then and remain a solution in search of a problem. No player off a rookie scale contract had ever (and still hasn’t ever) turned down a max offer from his existing team (whether early or not), but the right of the team to offer it early becomes (practically) the obligation to at least discuss it. Here, the Suns should do it, but try and get some contract benefit (like a full 5 years, without the last being a player option). Jokic wasn’t technically an early extension (but Denver accommodated the player’s request to make him a RFA, although it likely would have anyway), and Denver got a real 5 years. If the guy is really a foundation piece, this creates a better long term salary situation than a 4/1, and much better than matching a 3/1. Commitment in the out years is a risk, but IMO, with a guy 23, it’s far outweighed by the financial savings and certainty in those years.