Why casual basketball fans are concerned about Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker contract extension

Why casual basketball fans are concerned about Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker contract extension

Devin Booker is the constant. He’s the guy that we knew was going to be there. He’s the if there’s anything that they have gone through, he’s the one rose that has grown from this concrete. Like nothing else has been good about that. But I’ll say this, like when you look at the Phoenix Suns, it’s about what’s going to be around Devin Booker. Like you lost James Jones. You continue to lose coaches. You continue to make different moves. So praise to Devin Booker. He deserves it. We are happy. But that does nothing for me. Yeah. I need to see what you’re going to put around him. I need to see what what’s next with the coaching staff and I need to see how that works and how it puts together. You got Jaylen Green, you got some young pieces, you got um defensive wings now. You went and got some bigs, now you got a couple bigs. So, you got a lot of different pieces. I just want to see how it all works together. But congratulations to Booker. He definitely deserves it. That is Udonis Hasslam from uh NBA today on ESPN talking about the Devin Booker contract extension which was reached. It wasn’t a secret that it was coming. Uh just a matter of when because that’s the way business works in the NBA. The reaction to it was interesting from the outside. I was, you know, off last week and kind of taking stuff in, Tim, and I know you and you and Vic probably talked about it uh at great length, but the fact that it’s Devin Booker that reaches the $75 million annual mark, and it doesn’t kick in until 2028 when he reaches that, and there’s going to be other players at that level uh when we get there. But I think because it’s Devin Booker in the situation that he’s in, the situation that the Phoenix Suns are in, some of the uninformed will look at this and say, “Oh, what a terrible contract. He’s going to hamstring that that franchise forever.” That’s not the way it works. It’s all based on a percentage of the salary cap for Max players. Now, if you if you want to just sit back and go total get off my lawn mode, the fact that anybody on planet Earth is making $75 million annually for playing a game is utterly ridiculous. Charles Barkley said the same thing this weekend. I am saying this as a gigantic Devin Booker fan, but that’s the game. That’s the way the business works. So, this this reaction to, oh, he he doesn’t deserve that. He’s he’s he’s a it’s back to him being an empty stat patter now. Now he doesn’t have Kevin Durant. Now it’s all his fault. The reaction was quite something to take in last week. His percentage of the cap when he’s making that kind of money is no different than his percentage to the cap right now. Yes. But but the idea that he is the the highest paid annually basketball player in history or Devin Booker I know for now. I know for now, but I’m just saying when he signed it and it might not actually he’s just the first one to get to that level again when this contract extension portion kicks in. It’s three years down the road. I mean, Shay Gildus Alexander is already over the $70 million threshold. There’s going to be others before that, but the fact that it’s him, I I I mean, I get it. Well, I I I think there’s a perception and it may sometimes be accurate that Devin Booker is not a top 10 player in the league anymore. So whether or not it’s the norm for your top players to make 70 plus million or will be, should Devin Booker be in that group? That that’s that’s what I’ve heard a lot from the national media that actually account for the whole salary cap percentage thing. Like is Devin Booker worthy of being paid that? But of course, there’s so much that goes into it, Vinnie, when it comes to this organization and being the f face of the franchise and having an elite player that you believe as an organization. If you build around can be the alpha player on a championship contending team. Like that’s the you you can dispute that. Some Suns fans dispute that. I’ve read plenty of Suns fans over the last month or so that would support the trading of Devin Booker. And that’s also that’s the other criticism is that they shouldn’t, you know, Suns fans feel like why are they tying themselves to this player for the next four years or whatever it is instead of just completely saying we need to reboot. We need to start from scratch because they I mean they believe they have their alpha. They believe they have the guy that can be a centerpiece like that. They have that piece and we’re not going to let him go. Look, we have to pay him this much money. We can pay him this much money. And they successfully built a championship level team around him before before they tried to build it around him and Kevin Durant and then him and Kevin Durant and Bradley. I think that’s part of it, but I also think it starts with Devin Booker wanting to be here. the statement that he put out after signing it, the fact that the entire team went up to Vegas to help celebrate that this new deal, it shows how important the Phoenix Suns are to Devin Booker and vice versa. And now to Jared’s point and and to the point you brought up, Tim, about if you’re a Suns fan and you see value in trading Devin Booker, I don’t blame you. Again, I’ve I’ve said this for months strictly from a basketball roster construction perspective. That’s the way to go about it. They’ve painted themselves into a corner with other moves. If you really want to knock it down and rebuild, knock it down and rebuild. That makes sense to me. Then you get the emotional ties. And if the if the if the Suns wanted to be hardcore about it and said, “Look, we’re knocking it down. Book, we appreciate you. love you. You got to go. We have to We have to cash in on you while we can. That is such a tenuous tight rope that this ownership group would be walking because they’re not exactly, you know, exuding goodwill from their pores right now among the Suns fan base because of the way this experiment went. Devin Booker represents goodwill and an olive branch to the fans. like you love him, we love him, he’s going to be here forever. And I think that’s part of it, and it’s something that was brought up last week for sure, Vinnie, when we when we tore this uh one apart and not not tore it apart, but tore into it, I should say, that there there is an emotional component, but there’s also a business component. I believe the Suns really believe, as Jared mentioned, that they can build around Devin Booker and get to a championship contention standpoint again because they’ve done it before. This organization has done it before. Booker has done it before. But I also think there’s something to be said for the olive branch theory. There’s also a ticket sales theory. He is the face of the franchise that’s been brought up by management. That means a lot of things. It means on the court and it means off the court. And this ownership and the way the last couple of years have gone, you’re right, they’re not exactly the the the the bell of the ball anymore in the eyes of Suns fans. Could you imagine if they traded Devin Booker? I mean, even if from a strict basketball standpoint, you agree that maybe that’s the best way to get this thing back up to eventually where you want it to be, the backlash on that. So, it would be immense. It would be immense. And that that would represent ripping off the band-aid, but we’re not talking about the little band-aids that you wrap around your finger when you got a paper cut or something like that. This is a full body band-aid they’d be wrapping off by doing or ripping off by doing that. Yeah. And I And I don’t think it was ever even under discussion. And If it was, it was for like a minute. Look, and and let’s and let’s be really adult about it. Deon Booker’s stance could change. Right now, it’s important for him to be here. There’s a financial aspect to to this for him. Obviously, that contract is signed. It’s on the books. If next year goes poorly or two years down the road, the Suns aren’t showing signs of having the ability to build a contending team around him, his stance could change. I think it’s a three-year plan in the eyes of management and Matt Ishpria like in year in year three we want to be at a place where we’re in contention if not for a championship at least to win a couple playoff series and make a make a run. If that doesn’t happen in year three and I I hate to put it on the kid because you know how does Malawatch develop? I mean I think a lot of these things go a long way. What kind of pieces do they put around them? Do they hire if they only have a certain amount of money to spend, do they do they sign the right free agents? Right. All that stuff is yet to be determined, but I think we’ll go a long way into how the organization is trending on the court, which would then, as you say, impact Deon Booker’s decision. So, you’re you’re saying that there’s a possibility that Bradley Beal’s contract could outlast Devin Booker with the Suns if it’s a five-year buyout and a two and a three-year window. If Booker wants out after, let’s say Booker is going to give it three years. If he wants out after three, what’s the market for Booker with that kind of price tag coming up on his head? Yeah. Because then the first number in his age is a three as opposed to a two. Yes. And the first number in the salary is a seven as opposed to a five or a six. Yeah. Those things Yeah. Those things aren’t congruent necessarily. So, it’ll be interesting. This is This is where This This is where they are. This is what they’ve done. As Bill Simmons said last week, he’s he said they’re they’re a lottery team without any lottery picks. So, how is this going to look in terms of team building over the next three years? Brian Gregory cannot miss. You cannot. You cannot miss on Malawatch. Are you convinced they’re a lottery team? Because we both brought it up in social studies. It’s it’s if 36 is the number and that indicate that’s just nothing other than offering improvement over a very disappointing season last year. But I think right now on paper with different vibes and a different that’s it a different path they could over I I think they could surpass 36 wins. A lot would have to go right. They’re not more talented. If you think they’re going to be better than they were last year, you are basing it on vibes. No, but they’re going to be better. They’re going to be better at the center. They’re going to be tougher defensively with Dylan Brooks. They’re going to have a little more dog in them with Dylan Brooks. Yeah. Jaylen Green can still be a hell of a player. Yeah. Do Booker and Green work better in the back court than Booker and Beal did? Like a lot of things would have to go right for that. I’m not saying for them to, you know, be a playoff I mean just for them to surpass 36 wins. Like a lot that that to me is all I’m the one that brought it up, but I mean that indicates how low the bar is. I don’t expect them to be even a playing team next year. I would be surp I’d be pleasantly surprised if they were. I I just think this is going to be a three-year process and I think Matt Ishbia’s idea or his goals or his intent is to contend again three seasons from you are giving him a lot of patience that we have. We have no choice. First of all, he said he’s going to own the team till he dies. So, and and I and I I hope I hope he’s learned some lessons as a young owner about team building and what it takes and positional flexibility and positional fit. Thanks for watching Bickley and Marada. Click to see the latest Bickley blast and hit the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports.

From the outside looking in, casual NBA fans may worry that the Phoenix Suns extended Devin Booker for $75 million annually. Vince Marotta and guest host Tim Ring ease fans’ concerns.

Ryan Dunn shows signs of even more offensive growth for Suns in Vegas: https://arizonasports.com/nba/phoenix-suns/ryan-dunn-suns-summer/3581558/

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