Elite playmaking and postseason efficiency keep the Suns' star in the top tier, yet new rankings place him behind explosive rivals Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker is seemingly inevitable to come up in conversations around the organization at every turn over the offseason.
This time around, the conversation revolves around what Booker' standing at the shooting guard position is.
While the 29-year old is the Suns' de-facto point guard, many pundits still consider him a shooting guard in the grand scheme of everything.
The consensus appears to be that Booker remains in the top tier at the position, there is also belief that the 11-year vet has fallen behind two other massive names in the hierarchy of the league.
Booker comes in below Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell heading into the season at the two-guard position according to HoopsHype. This isn't entirely unsurprising, but it seems as if those with influence have forgotten what the five-time All-Star is truly capable of.
Yes, Mitchell holds several key impact stat advantages over Booker (wins above replacement player, box plus-minus, etc) according to CraftedNBA, but Booker does own an advantage as an overall playmaker. Mitchell's explosive athleticism and advantage as a three-point shooter should give him more leverage to extend his stardom longer, but it hasn't exactly translated as of late.
As for Edwards, the Timberwolves' star guard owns a very slight advantage as a scorer and defender (CraftedNBA), while Booker is a substantially stronger playmaker according to metrics. Booker's advantage as a playmaker over both might come as a surprise, but the Kentucky product is one of only 15 players in the league to average at least 6 assists per game for three straight seasons.
Booker's aiding in the ascension of players such as sixth-man Collin Gillespie has to be recognized as well. The gap between Booker and the other two on paper is substantial, while recent playoff outputs must be considered as well.
Below are the outputs from last 15 playoff games from each of the three players (all via Statmuse).
Booker: 28.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 6.7 APG, 65.7 True Shooting %
Mitchell: 26.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, 54.8% TS
Edwards: 22.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.3 APG, 54.5% TS
Context is needed here. The last 15 games from Mitchell and Edwards both come from the last year or so, while Booker's numbers extend back to the historic 2023 playoff run. An argument can be made that the two-time All-NBA selection isn't the same player he was in 2023, but a counter can absolutely be made that he owns the highest ceiling as a player out of all three - particularly in high leverage.
Regardless of where Booker stacks up here, he is absolutely still a transcendent player that is well on his way to carving out a spot in the Hall of Fame.
