$158 million is hard to walk away from. . .
Over the last 8 years, the Phoenix Suns have failed to make the NBA playoffs. Well, that could change this year, as the team is looking to surround talent around their star player, Devin Booker.
While he’s maybe a season or two from having the super-tag added before star, the Suns are ensuring that Devin is there to stay. Today, the team officially inked Booker to a five-year, $158 million maximum contract extension. The deal arrives before his upcoming restricted free agency period of next season, which will now extend his tenure with the team until at least 2026.
With their star locked in, the team has been slowly adding pieces around him – drafting Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges in last month’s draft, as well as Josh Jackson last year.
Phoenix still has a very young-core in-tact, this looks like a team of the future, considering they have some really good pieces to develop over the next few years. However, even with those draft picks and the addition of veteran swing-man Trevor Ariza, we still can’t see the Suns jumping from the league’s worst team into playoff contention. This has us questioning this move from Booker, who obviously got to his bag – but more so having trust in this front-office and ownership group.
Our idea would’ve been for Devin to go back home out east, where it’s less competition from the juggernauts out west. While the young core on paper does look amazing, it’s just not possible for this team to sneak its way into the playoffs. Normally, a player who’s only 21 would be patient with the process of making the playoffs and learning from mistakes to build upon.
However, his first three seasons of losing with limited help has him worried about his immediate future – which has developed some impatience on his end. Hell, Booker does hang out frequently with team owner Robert Sarver, so he’s treating this as a win-soon approach.
Let us know in the comments if you think Devin made the right decision in trusting Phoenix or should he have gone to a different organization out east (or west).