Devin Booker’s Offense And Leadership Are Evolving For The Phoenix Suns

Although one-game overreactions need to be chilled across the NBA, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns were in danger on opening night. Trailing by 22 points to the Dallas Mavericks, who sent them packing in embarrassing fashion five months ago, Phoenix couldn’t start their season with another home blowout loss.

It may just be one game out of 82, and eventually wounds could heal over the course of a long season. But if the Suns’ home opener ended the way it started, it’s hard to believe their confidence would be there in future matchups against Luka Dončić and the Mavs. After getting punched in the mouth during the first half, Phoenix had to find answers for the Mavs’ feisty defense – one that wasn’t allowing an inch of space when the lead ballooned to 22.

Newly-signed Damion Lee stole the headlines with his fourth quarter magic, including the tough go-ahead fadeaway with only 10 seconds left. Sparking the Suns’ second-half run, though, was their superstar leader Devin Booker.

The numbers weren’t flashy or awe-inspiring and it likely wouldn’t have made his top 20 list of best games last year, but Booker’s offensive brilliance in the third and fourth quarters showed off his veteran savvy.

In ball-screen action, Booker exhibited patience and precision with an unselfish approach. As the Suns were mounting a comeback, he had his ‘Point Book’ moments orchestrating the offense and making Dallas pay for sending extra bodies.

With Chris Paul on the bench for the final five-plus minutes, a decision Monty Williams said was due to Cameron Payne’s activity and confidence, Booker was asked to be the Suns’ surgical playmaker. For Booker, it probably invited flashbacks to the two seasons prior to Paul’s arrival (2018-19 and 2019-20), when he increased his assist rate to an impressive 32% and relished his point guard duties for a team that lacked creators.

This year, with Paul now 37 and the bench looking shallow, Booker knows he will have to tap into those experiences and be more of a play initiator versus a play finisher in critical stretches. Because of his elite scoring reputation – 26.8 points on 50.8%-38.3%-86.8% modern shooting splits last season – he’s going to face stronger defenders and more aggressive coverages this year. Combined with the fact Phoenix virtually lost a highly-respected spot-up threat in Jae Crowder, opponents will recognize more of the burden is on Booker and Paul to score in the halfcourt. Only one of those is young enough to get fully downhill and attack gaps, so the easiest decision will be to send doubles.

Dallas followed its gameplan from the playoffs: Take the ball out of Booker’s hands when a high ball-screen comes, and force others to make winning plays. Phoenix was clearly bothered by this in the first half, and you could sense the indecision of their guards and wings once they found themselves in those spots.

From the second round playoff series to Wednesday’s opener, the Mavs have deployed the most ferocious defense against Phoenix that we’ve seen in the Monty Williams era. Contrary to his approach in May’s Game 7, Booker handled those tactics with much more composure.

He used his scoring ability (and pull-up threat) to distort the defense, hit the proper release valves when guys flashed open, and trusted his teammates to execute with the advantage.

Dallas showed soft traps from the opening quarter, betting that Booker wouldn’t give it up quickly enough. They also just didn’t respect the Suns’ surrounding talent, particularly off the bench. He saw these coverages all night, and this was a rare instance in the first half that it led to a clean look inside:

Booker’s assist percentage on Wednesday was a sky-high 37.2 (it was just 22% last year), and he only committed one bad-pass turnover.

In the second half, especially during this stretch Paul was resting, the Suns went to their Double Drag actions. They knew Dallas would send an extra body after the second ball-screen, which would be set by Ayton. That would unlock Ayton’s short-roll decision-making, as he made quick reads and made the defense pay for having a small player as the low-man:

The play above might have been the best possession of the night. Booker got rid of the ball before the double was fully established, and it left the Mavericks in rotation. Booker and the Suns will be more deliberate about feeding Ayton the ball in those scenarios, trusting that he can punish guards or wings sliding over from the weakside.

“It was just what the game showed us,” Williams said about the short-roll feeds. “Both teams were – if you charted how many defenses we changed tonight, I bet both teams were all over the board. From zones, switching, and blitzes. They were doing everything, and we were. We just read the game. They were blitzing Booker and we were able to be productive on the backside. I thought a huge play was [Ayton] getting it in his little mid-range area and converting.”

Booker and Ayton’s connection goes back to 2018, when Phoenix drafted the big man out of Arizona (ahead of Dončić). With half a decade of experience in the pick-and-roll, they have developed enough chemistry to be able to anticipate each other’s movement. Because of that, Booker and Ayton can engage in ball-screen action without fully knowing what the intention is — it can start as a scoring opportunity for Booker, but ultimately end with a mismatch that allows Ayton to shine.

Booker has picked up a few tricks from his time practicing with CP3, including this expert-level manipulation by snaking Ayton’s screen (changing directions after using it), and putting his defender in jail just long enough to force help:

To be that patient after the screen and process not only the outcome you’re looking for, but also the best way to ensure your center gets open, takes such an advanced feel for the game. Booker has gradually increased his effectiveness out of the pick-and-roll, coming a long way from the early days when he’d often rush shots or become too predictable.

When Dallas issued a double, he would look to make the right play. But there were also moments that called for him to be the aggressor and create his own opportunities.

Look at this possession, as he directs traffic from nearly halfcourt and calls out exactly what he wants. He knows the trap is supposed to come after the second screen, so he takes a wider path to the opposite wing — just to force Ayton’s man to reconsider a double that far away:

Maxi Kleber was concerned about leaving Spencer Dinwiddie on an island guarding Ayton in the post, so he recovered. That’s the only window Booker needed. Once he saw the single coverage, he used his elite ball-handling and balance to carve his way into the paint for a pull-up.

Booker ranked in the 83rd percentile last season as the scorer in pick-and-roll scenarios. That was on 481 possessions. We should expect to see the volume higher this year, and I have a hunch the efficiency will slightly increase if the Suns’ supporting cast can prove to be respectable outside shooters to give him added room.

Sometimes, it’s simply about making the easy pass. It can be one spot away on the floor, as long as the Booker-Ayton ball-screen action forces opposing wings to help at the elbows:

In the 27 minutes Booker and Ayton shared the floor Wednesday, Phoenix scored 69 points on 52 total possessions, leading to a 132.7 offensive rating. During those minutes, the Suns out scores Dallas by 25 while shooting 55.6% from two and over 50% from deep.

After last year’s playoff meltdown, Booker is also taking on the challenge of being a stronger leader for his team. He might not be one of the oldest in the locker room, but he’s been with the franchise the longest. He has a certain style and maturity to him that teammates appreciate, and he’s able to communicate his messages in a way that doesn’t rub anyone the wrong way.

“Every night that you’re down or losing, you don’t want to lose,” Booker said. “So that’s my job as one of the leaders of the team to take initiative. I think all of us together – in the fourth quarter when were down 15, the bench got a little … you know, not looking at each other. I was like, ‘yo, we’ve been here before. I know we have a few new guys, but we’ve been in this situation before. Let’s just play it out. Obviously, you have to tighten a some screws when you’re doing that much, but let’s just play through it.”

Monty Williams, whose voice and leadership qualities have certainly influenced a lot of his players, noticed Booker trying to get his teammates encouraged during timeouts.

“Book was really good in the huddles,” Williams said. “Even when we were down 15, I heard he got the guys together and told them, ‘this is nothing. But we got to stay here.’ And we’ve been talking about that all during training camp. How can we deal with the emotional ups and downs of a game? I thought that helped us win the game.”

Phoenix will still face an uphill battle this year if the struggles from opening night are an indicator. Their bench is considerably worse than other West foes eyeing for homecourt advantage, which puts immense pressure on Booker, Ayton, and Paul to stay away from injuries that cost them weeks at a time.

The Suns’ biggest weakness — creating an adequate number of three-pointers — showed up in Wednesday’s opener. It could just be the Dallas matchup that aggravates them and doesn’t lead to many open looks. But it’s been a lingering issue for a while. Phoenix needs to hunt more outside shots, and Booker should have opportunities to do that with Ayton being one of the best screeners in the game. First, defenses have to fear the outcome of doubling Booker on those actions. Dallas clearly doesn’t.

As Booker repeatedly said leading up to the game and following the win, it was only one night of 82. However, it was impossible to watch Booker’s maturation as a pick-and-roll operator and not come away feeling optimistic about his chances of repeating last year’s All-NBA performance.