Let's be honest, Booker didn't "lead" that team to the finals, despite being their best player. Chris Paul led that team, and they were surrounded by a bunch of good defenders and shooters.
He lead them to no ring. Is that the goal? He also led the Suns to fold to Luka the next season. Nobody is saying Booker isnt a good player but considering he makes the super max he is overpaid and gonna lead your team to a ring if he is the best player.
Depends on what you mean by "lead." Did Harden lead the Rockets to the conference finals or did Paul? The thing is, every star player needs to be surrounded by a bunch of good players to get anywhere near the finals. Even superstars like Shai, Jokic, and Luka do. If Booker had the same contract as Jalen Green, would you trade Jalen for Booker straight up?
"All those picks" only have value to Phoenix. No other team would trade a Shai-caliber guy for those picks, but you can dream someday some miracle can happen.
Shai never led any team to a ring. Neither did Luka. You wouldn't trade for those guys? I already said I totally understand the contract problem and I am not advocating getting Booker. Just saying you guys are underrating him.
It is called passing the torch to the next generation.....even if SGA or Luka ends up winning only 1 each at the age of 33-35 ..... When Durant, LBJ and Curry are sailing into the sunset......and the two Jay Jays Jayson and Jaylen have bad seasons. There is no way to pass up an opportunity to get either one......
We should’ve kept the Brooklyn picks. One of the worst trades in NBA history. We also gave Brooklyn back their 2026 (likely top 5 pick) all for a stupid future swap rights. Who in their sane mind would basically trade two top five 25 & 26 picks for mid-round 25 & 27 picks. Even with the horrific season the big 3 is having in Phoenix it is still gonna be around the 11th pick….would rather have a shot at Flagg (and have the ‘26 Brooklyn lottery pick). Just horrible and made no sense at all when the trade was done nor does it make any sense now. Keep in mind if the Suns were just having the normal season everyone projected with their big 3 this pick would have been in the twenties and we’d have really been fleeced. I don’t want Stone to trade for Booker or Durant, not because they wouldn’t help us but because I have no confidence he knows what he’s doing.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44237621/next-kevin-durant-devin-booker-phoenix-suns As a source close to Ishbia said, "For better or worse, there's no 'trust the process' to Mat Ishbia." THERE IS ONE absolute certainty as the Suns approach what might be a summer of major change: Booker will not be traded. Never mind that there are plenty of rival executives who would advise Ishbia and the Suns to consider listening to offers, specifically from the Houston Rockets, who control a significant chunk of Phoenix's future first-round capital (2025 swap rights, 2027 and 2029 picks, all unprotected) via a deal with the Brooklyn Nets. Sources have told ESPN that the Rockets have repeatedly expressed interest in Booker, a 28-year-old star who fits Houston's timeline, and that those conversations have been brief. "Never happen," Ishbia said, interrupting the question. "It's silly. So here's what I'll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player." Nor will Booker request a trade, regardless of how the Suns finish this season. Booker says he is fully committed to spending his entire career in Phoenix, sharing that vision with Ishbia and the Suns' lead executives, CEO Josh Bartelstein and general manager James Jones. Booker endured four years in or near the West basement to begin his career, averaging more than 60 losses while playing for four head coaches in those four seasons. The Suns made a leap to mediocrity in the first year under Williams, when Booker made his All-Star debut, and were two wins away from a title the following season. After getting a peek at the top of the mountain in 2021, Booker is determined to complete that climb in a Suns uniform. "I mean, it's a rare breed," Booker told ESPN, wearing a T-shirt with his idol Kobe Bryant's Black Mamba logo as he explained after a recent shootaround why playing for only one franchise is so important to him. "I take pride in the community in Phoenix, the people that have supported me since I was 18 when things were ugly. And the people that are with us, we just fell short of accomplishing what we want. So I want to do it, and I want to do it here. "That's the responsibility of being a franchise player, and I wear that with honor. So it might not look the most pretty right now, but we got to get it done and I'm going to do it." Ishbia acknowledges that positioning the Suns to realistically pursue their championship ambitions will probably require some roster remodeling around Booker. It's insulting to Ishbia to suggest that a patient rebuilding process might be in the best interest of the Suns, who have given up control of their own first-rounders through 2031 under his watch. "It's surprising to me that other people, other fans, they actually like the rebuild process," Ishbia said, disdain dripping from his voice as the final word of that sentence comes out of his mouth. "Like, 'Oh, let's rebuild it.' Are you crazy?! You think I'm going to go for seven years and try to get there? You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we have holding? I want to try to see the game today. I want us to win today, and we're going to try. "Although let's say this doesn't work, guess what? Maybe next year we won't be as good, but we're going to try again. The next opportunity we have, we're going to try to win and compete. And it will work. We will win championships here in Phoenix. Might not be this year, but I promise you we are going to do it. And that's what we're focused on." … DAYS AFTER PHOENIX'S 2023-24 season ended in a first-round sweep, Ishbia defiantly declared that the Suns had "enough talent to win a championship," a claim he believed again entering this season. He also insisted during that news conference that 26 of the other 29 NBA general managers would swap situations with the Suns -- roster, future draft picks and all -- a statement that was mocked around the league within minutes of Ishbia saying it. "Not based on our season this year, right?" Ishbia said this month when asked if he still thinks that is true. Ishbia didn't double down on his 26 of 29 take, but he didn't back all the way off, either. He downplayed the perception that the Suns are stuck in basketball purgatory due to trading as many of their future first-round picks as possible and have roster-building restrictions due to being so far over the salary cap and into the luxury tax. "The thing is, I feel really good about our organization, the franchise, the basketball," Ishbia said. "If we had won 15 more games than we won right now, I'd feel amazing about it all, but I feel that we're in a great position in Phoenix." At this point, the Suns' position puts them in serious jeopardy of sending a lottery pick to the Rockets in the upcoming draft. Phoenix is 2½ games behind the injury-ravaged Dallas Mavericks for the West's final play-in spot. Ishbia added that his analysis of the Suns' favorable positioning among NBA franchises included the consideration that most GMs would enjoy having "access to an owner that does not worry about how much we're spending and is willing to recruit people." But Ishbia is aware that he has been accused by rivals and the media of having "new owner syndrome," which is a way of saying he makes impulsive, splashy decisions instead of taking a patient approach. Ishbia and some members of the Suns' front office consider that an unfair portrayal. Ishbia, a feisty former walk-on guard at Michigan State, is responsible for Phoenix's win-now philosophy and financing it. He approves all personnel decisions, but he does not dictate them or make moves that aren't advised by his basketball operations staff. "People like to say, 'Oh, he's too involved.' What?" said Ishbia, who splits his time between Phoenix and Pontiac, Michigan, where the headquarters of his family's United Wholesale Mortgage are located. "Honestly, you think I watched film on the players we're drafting? They say, 'We like Ryan Dunn.' I say, 'OK, how do we get him?' I don't watch film, I don't interview the player. It's just silly what people talk about." Ishbia considers it his obligation as an owner to "give the best resources, give the support, make sure that we make it a destination in Phoenix, create a great fan experience." He feels that he is doing all of those things, from making the nine-figure investment in the franchise's new headquarters to slashing concession prices. And he's paying more than $450 million, including luxury tax, for this season's roster. "I'm not sparing dollars," Ishbia said. "Fans don't care what a luxury tax bill is. They care that I care and I'm trying to help us win, and I'm giving the GM and the CEO and the coach and the players all the resources to win. And I think that's something that a lot of GMs and a lot of basketball people would really relish the opportunity to be part of." But right now? Phoenix's middling results, along with Ishbia's bold, brash style, have made the Suns subject to ridicule. "It's easy to take shots," Ishbia said. "And I guess the biggest thing is when you put yourself out there -- which I will always do, so you can have fun with this for a long time -- when you put yourself out there and saying you want to win and be the best and you don't, people really enjoy when you don't. So that's what's happened. We haven't been where we wanted to be. "I could have come in with low expectations, say, 'Hey, in the next five years, we're going to try to build this the right way. In eight years, maybe we'll win a championship.' I came in and said, 'Let's try to win now.' And guess what? I'll say that again next year and the year after, and one of these years we're going to win it. "And I'm not just ruling out this year, but at the same time it has not been good this year, and we know that here."
Shai and Luka are worth super max contracts. Nobody is underrating Booker. His contract makes him overpaid if you understand the contract problem you won't say he is underrated. Look at Tyler Herro he is outperforming Booker while only making 25M a year. If we are trading Jalen for an upgrade Id rather trade Jalen and the Suns 2025 for Herro.
Are you high? Nets wouldnt tank if they didnt have their pick. They traded away Mikal, Dennis Schroder, traded DFS for Russell (who was stinking it up) and bought out Ben Simmons just to get where they are now. Why would they even do that if we still own their pick? Just tank to give Rockets Cooper Flagg??? What top 5 pick are you even talking about???? Also the trade was a swap and pick for 2 swaps and 2 picks, literally doubling the assets received.
This. I don’t think Booker should be the rockets number 1 but lots of posters are just dismissing him. Booker is a really good player, just not the top tier of superstars.
They have value for any team otherwise OKC wouldnt collect so many draft picks and swaps. A miracle already happened Shai got traded for Paul George and Luka got traded for AD and a pick. If Lakers had traded AD for KD or Jimmy Butler they would never have gotten Luka.
How is Herro outperforming Booker exactly? If anything…even a down season for Booker is still better than Herro’s best season. Sounds like you are underrating Booker
