Devin Booker Max Extension Confirmed

Mainstreet

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I think the Suns are going to upgrade the point guard position before the season starts but they will need Booker to compete.

An unknown factor for the Suns is how much Igor's coaching improves the team.

For some reason I think Ryan Anderson will surprise.
 

Yuma

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Teams have to cut down to make their rosters. You would think a few PGs may get cut. Like the Clippers. They cant keep ALL those PGs.
 

BC867

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Injury or no injury... the Suns ARE going to have to overpay for a PG. They boxed themselves into the corner.
How true. And the last thing they should want to do is ...... nothing. When we desperately need a starting Point Guard, with or without Booker's surgery happening.

Ir wasn't that long ago when McDonough announced that drafting a starting calibre Point Guard was our 2nd priority after the top Center. Which did not happen.
 

Phrazbit

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We are well stocked at point guard. It's not like we are trotting out Bender or Chriss simply because we drafted them high. The same was true of Jackson until a few games at the end. Harrison and Canaan were both positive factors when they were on the floor last year and Harrison was a positive factor in SL - Jackson was a disaster in SL, but we can overlook that because it was clear he was trying to do too much. I suppose it's possible the absence of Booker may trigger the same response in Jackson again, but I think Igor will nip that in the bud.
With Booker possibly missing the opening game, we have one proven successful player in Ariza, and he may be moved out of his position. We have a fair idea of what we have in Warren but it's not clear he's a positive contributor - for instance, last season, his +- was worse than the team average of -9.2/48. Beyond that we are betting on the come at every position. I expect Ayton and Bridges will be positive factors as the season goes on and I have hopes for Jackson. For Anderson and Bender it's more like wishful thinking as they've never shown themselves to be positive factors.
With a team like this why is everyone fretting over the PG position? Canaan may take time to come around but I expect Harrison to continue as has done in the past. The odds are that the PG position as it stands will be carrying the rest of the team out of the gate.

Interesting note: Among the nine players whose +- was at or below the team average we are shedding six of them. Len, Ulis, Dudley, House, Williams and Peters. The other three are Booker, Harrison and Canaan. Granted, most of those we shed were low minute players.

I wish I shared your confidence but I think we'd be really really lucky if we're not in the bottom in 10 PG play.

We've got 2 D league players and 2 2nd round rookies. A few of them look like they will potentially be plus defenders but none are even average as offensive players, all are suspect shooters none of them are proven distributors. I just don't see how that unit projects to be a strength.

I'll be happy if they take care of the ball and play good D, IMO that's about the best we can hope for from that squad until someone makes a serious leap.
 

Errntknght

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I wish I shared your confidence but I think we'd be really really lucky if we're not in the bottom in 10 PG play.

We've got 2 D league players and 2 2nd round rookies. A few of them look like they will potentially be plus defenders but none are even average as offensive players, all are suspect shooters none of them are proven distributors. I just don't see how that unit projects to be a strength.

I'll be happy if they take care of the ball and play good D, IMO that's about the best we can hope for from that squad until someone makes a serious leap.

I'll be happy if they can take care of the ball and play good defense, too - we haven't had a point guard in some time that could do both. Well, Bled could play good defense but he soon stopped doing it very frequently once he was starting. If Igor starts complaining about the PGs at his disposal, I'll worry. I imagine the reason McD hasn't been active in pursuing point guards is because Igor is content with the players he has. I believe that Igor was behind the shedding of BK, he probably watched some tape of him as a Sun and didn't want to have deal with him regardless of what he was saying. I'm not too sure Igor will win in the end - if enough exec's around the league are shaking the heads at the Suns starting the season with two G-leaguers and two second round rookies at PG, he'll cave. He needs to be seen as doing his due diligence. In fact I could see Dragic being a compromise but I don't think we could pay him.
 

Phrazbit

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I'll be happy if they can take care of the ball and play good defense, too - we haven't had a point guard in some time that could do both. Well, Bled could play good defense but he soon stopped doing it very frequently once he was starting. If Igor starts complaining about the PGs at his disposal, I'll worry. I imagine the reason McD hasn't been active in pursuing point guards is because Igor is content with the players he has. I believe that Igor was behind the shedding of BK, he probably watched some tape of him as a Sun and didn't want to have deal with him regardless of what he was saying. I'm not too sure Igor will win in the end - if enough exec's around the league are shaking the heads at the Suns starting the season with two G-leaguers and two second round rookies at PG, he'll cave. He needs to be seen as doing his due diligence. In fact I could see Dragic being a compromise but I don't think we could pay him.

Bledsoe not defending well as a starter is simply not true. No question, the 3 games at the start of last season he gave virtually no effort, he deserves blame for selling out at that point. His first 2 years he rated as arguably the best defensive point guard in the entire league. Only when we began to obviously tank in his 3rd year did his defensive effort begin to flag.

Seeing as we didn't draft Doncic I don't think Igor is overly partial to Slovak players and given that, I don't see Dragic as a compromise, because he is freaking terrible as a defender, he doesn't even pretend to try.
 

SirStefan32

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I'll be happy if they can take care of the ball and play good defense, too - we haven't had a point guard in some time that could do both. Well, Bled could play good defense but he soon stopped doing it very frequently once he was starting. If Igor starts complaining about the PGs at his disposal, I'll worry. I imagine the reason McD hasn't been active in pursuing point guards is because Igor is content with the players he has. I believe that Igor was behind the shedding of BK, he probably watched some tape of him as a Sun and didn't want to have deal with him regardless of what he was saying. I'm not too sure Igor will win in the end - if enough exec's around the league are shaking the heads at the Suns starting the season with two G-leaguers and two second round rookies at PG, he'll cave. He needs to be seen as doing his due diligence. In fact I could see Dragic being a compromise but I don't think we could pay him.

Reports indicate that the Suns have been active in pursuing point guards, from Lillard and Walker to Dinwiddie and Joseph. They just haven't had any success.
 

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I doubt he is going to miss any real games, but if his hand is actually hurt bad enough for him to miss meaningful time in the last thing we need to do is panic trade.

Continue down the course as set. Whatever moves they make or don't make should have nothing to do with Booker missing some time at the begining of a season that most would be happy to merely win 30-35 games.

All estimates seem to suggest that he will in fact miss at least the first week, and likely more of the regular season... Don’t dismiss the fact that the surgery was done on his right hand... his dominant hand. The hand he mainly uses when dribbling and passing, and of course when shooting.
He will need ALL of the time he can get to strengthen and condition the hand, as well as get back in rhythm with respect to shooting. Let’s just hope the surgery doesn’t cause any lingering long term shooting issues...
 

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Not having by far your best player for training camp when a new coach is trying to implement seems like a huge hurdle. The first month might be rough for Ayton and I’m afraid Jackson goes into chuck mode. If Booker can’t use his hand at all he’s going to be very rusty as well.

I shouldn’t threw down some cash on the under....
 

95pro

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maybe a poll is needed, I vote end of this coming season
 

pokerface

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If we tank this year, McD will be fired. So its not going to happen.

I'm not interested in any more tanks but never say never. Injuries happen plus we have a ton of rookies so a lot of variables involved. But having said that I want them to play their guts out. I dont want to root for losses...The last couples years I got my nose full.

Yeah ...another tanked season and McD will be out I think .
 

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Gotta be more to this story. Ticketed $267 for driving 10-15 over the speed limit? How hard is it to just pay that and leave it?

Front office has to be on top of this stuff. Bad PR that has no reason of even being bad PR in the first place if handled correctly.
 

GatorAZ

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I’ve been photo’d in Phoenix and could easily pay but didn’t based on principal. I’m not just handing over money and getting points on my driving record based on a camera and radar mounted on a street corner. If an actual police officer gets me on radar and pulls me over than I’ll happily pay the fine.

That said not appearing or not contacting the court kinda blows that argument. He either somehow didn’t know (which I doubt) or just blew it off and didn’t know that not appearing warrants a civil court date.
 

Cheesebeef

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between kardashians, the ulis video, not showing up to court and all of a sudden surgery right before the season after signing a massive extension, something is a little off here.

not saying it's a big deal (which I know people will immediately say I am)... but if Booker was on another team, I think most of us would at least raise a brow and wonder.
 

JCSunsfan

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Um. 10-15 over? Who of you doesn't do that on a regular basis. Good grief, I was caught going 10 over by a Scottsdale radar. Someone else opens his mail, or it was someone else driving. So many possibilities but this is a puny ticket. How this is really news is beyond me.

Lots of people ignore photo radar tickets hoping they will just go away or wait for the server to deliver the ticket.

This is a nothingburger (even if Booker was on another team).
 

BC867

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between kardashians, the ulis video, not showing up to court and all of a sudden surgery right before the season after signing a massive extension, something is a little off here.

not saying it's a big deal (which I know people will immediately say I am)... but if Booker was on another team, I think most of us would at least raise a brow and wonder.

I share your concern. We're all counting on DBook being a team leader and a positive example. But what you described shows a trend as a prima donna. For a 21 year old who has not made an All Star team yet, he is at an early crossroads. Hopefully wanting to be a great ball player will override getting publicity however he can.

Unlike baseball, where a lot of the stats are based on totals and not just averages, basketball is based solely on averages. Except for team wins, of course. A basketball player could miss a quarter of the season and still put up good stats.
 

Cheesebeef

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Um. 10-15 over? Who of you doesn't do that on a regular basis. Good grief, I was caught going 10 over by a Scottsdale radar. Someone else opens his mail, or it was someone else driving. So many possibilities but this is a puny ticket. How this is really news is beyond me.

Lots of people ignore photo radar tickets hoping they will just go away or wait for the server to deliver the ticket.

This is a nothingburger (even if Booker was on another team).

Lol... it took ONE whole post for someone to distort my point. Kudos for your speed here.

So, I'll state my point again... if Booker was on another team, this alone would be a nothing-burger. But blowing off a court date, combined with dating Kardashians, showing up on video looking to brawl and a sudden surgery on a hand right after signing a deal, an injury that's lingered for a while, with reports it might have been injured partying makes me raise a brow.
 

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Lol... it took ONE whole post for someone to distort my point. Kudos for your speed here.

So, I'll state my point again... if Booker was on another team, this alone would be a nothing-burger. But blowing off a court date, combined with dating Kardashians, showing up on video looking to brawl and a sudden surgery on a hand right after signing a deal, an injury that's lingered for a while, with reports it might have been injured partying makes me raise a brow.

Suffice to say, the YOUNG man has a TON to prove...
 

sunsfan88

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Lol... it took ONE whole post for someone to distort my point. Kudos for your speed here.

So, I'll state my point again... if Booker was on another team, this alone would be a nothing-burger. But blowing off a court date, combined with dating Kardashians, showing up on video looking to brawl and a sudden surgery on a hand right after signing a deal, an injury that's lingered for a while, with reports it might have been injured partying makes me raise a brow.
Just catching up on this thread and I saw your post and just knew, I mean KNEW, that JC would be the first one to respond to it the way you were expecting lol.

That said, all this raises an eyebrow but it’s not even a minor concern yet. I’ve been following him on social media and noticed that he already has an entourage and is already spending his money quite lavishly but I suppose I wouldn’t expect any less from a 21 year old kid making $158M over the next 5 years.

Ben Simmons was smart enough to see what’s best for him and end things with the KarJenner that he was dating. Let’s hope Booker does the same but even if he doesn’t, it’s really none of my business.
 

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I will say that I am concerned. It doesn't help that I live the SLC/Jazz market and Mitchell is a "dream" off the court. The two are often compared directly (I guess because they are two of the brightest up-and-comers at their age) and I would still take Booker on the court. But off the court stuff often starts to seep into the team and games, and there is no comparison there. So yeah, I am concerned.
 

JCSunsfan

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Lol... it took ONE whole post for someone to distort my point. Kudos for your speed here.

So, I'll state my point again... if Booker was on another team, this alone would be a nothing-burger. But blowing off a court date, combined with dating Kardashians, showing up on video looking to brawl and a sudden surgery on a hand right after signing a deal, an injury that's lingered for a while, with reports it might have been injured partying makes me raise a brow.
I will give you dating the Kardashians and the brawl, but this is nothing. Just talking about the ticket here. I guess I am saying its nothing because (ashamedly) this exact thing happened to me. I just forgot about the court date. Maybe its just me.

BTW cheese. Not trying to mischaracterize what you were saying, I got it. I was just adding my two cents.
 
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