Damian Lillard’s path is the kind of warning sign Devin Booker should notice.
Lillard chased a cleaner shot at a championship when he left the Portland Trail Blazers for the Milwaukee Bucks, trading the comfort of being the face of one franchise for what looked like a better title lane next to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Injuries changed the story fast. After just 138 games across two seasons, he’s back where it all began after being waived by the Bucks.
That ending matters for Booker because the same temptation is always there: leave, find a new situation, hope the ring comes with it. But the source of that hope is never a guarantee.
In Lillard’s case, the title opportunity appears to have passed him by, even if he now gets to close the book with the Trail Blazers the right way and eventually see his jersey retired. “Which he will.”
Booker is approaching 30 and is on pace to be the best player in Suns history when it’s all said and done. Walking away would put that place in franchise history at risk, and it would also strain the bond he has built with Phoenix fans. Most important, it still wouldn’t promise him the championship he wants so badly.
The Suns keep trying to build around him, and credit to the front office for continuing to retool. But the article makes clear that past mistakes make that job difficult.
There’s also the matter of what leaving would actually look like. Booker might look at his hometown Detroit Pistons and think a fresh start could lead to more success, but that doesn’t make it true.
He would still be just another star in another NBA market, even if he were the best or second-best player on the roster. The connection would not be the same.
Phoenix is different for him. He was drafted there, he grew up there as a person, and he reached the NBA Finals there. You don’t launch the second line of your signature shoe in a McDonald’s in Sedona without a real tie to the place.
Booker could walk away and chase the promise of winning somewhere else, but the pressure in Phoenix would still be waiting. And as the piece puts it, Devin Booker is basketball in Arizona, just as Damian Lillard is up in Portland.
Lillard had to leave to understand that. Booker doesn’t.
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Suns Trade Pressure Could Get Worse If Grayson Allen Keeps Producing
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Now he heads to the Hornets with a chance to matter right away, and that is where the pressure starts to build for the Suns. If Allen settles in quickly and gives Charlotte the kind of bench production Phoenix gave up, the trade will only get harder to defend, especially if Bridges does not clearly outpace the value the Suns sent away. [Read more 🡒]