Devin Booker has spent his whole NBA life tied to Phoenix, and for a long time that seemed like the end of the conversation. The Suns never seriously entertained moving him, and Booker himself has already shut down the noise about wanting out. But Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley thinks that loyalty could eventually hit a breaking point if the Suns keep spinning their wheels in the West.
Buckley’s case is pretty blunt: Phoenix may be stuck as a team good enough to hover around the Play-In Tournament, but not good enough to matter once the real games start. He pointed to the Suns tying for 13th in winning percentage and finishing 15th in net efficiency last season, then needing two play-in games just to get one win before being blown out in all four first-round games by an average of 17.3 points.
“They have since spent smartly around the margins in free agency. They also burned an unprotected future first-round pick to acquire Miles Bridges, which… yikes.
Phoenix was supposed to be past this level of problematic narrow-mindedness. The Bridges trade feels just like the Suns’ previous pursuits of instant gratification, only he doesn’t have the accolades Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal possessed.”
“Is this really the way Booker wants his career to play out? If not, what could the Suns possibly be selling him in terms of a direction change? Unless folks are super bullish on Jalen Green-a scoring specialist with a career 42.2/33.9/79.6 shooting slash-Booker doesn’t even have a co-star candidate on this roster.”
That’s the heart of the issue for Phoenix. Booker is still very much in his prime, coming off a season where he averaged 26.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 6.0 assists while shooting 45.6% from the field and 33.0% from deep. And the money attached to him is massive: $57 million in 2026-27 and $61 million in 2027-28 from his previous four-year, $220 million extension, followed by a new two-year, $132.4 million extension that projects to $63.6 million in 2028-29 and a $68.7 million player option in 2029-30.
So yes, the Suns have made a huge financial bet on Booker.
The question is whether they can build something worthy of it.
Phoenix did outperform plenty of preseason expectations last year, finishing 45-37 and grabbing the eighth seed in the West through the play-in tournament after many projections had them outside the top 10. But the playoff result told a harsher truth. The Suns were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, and every loss was a blowout.
The league around them isn’t exactly standing still, either. The San Antonio Spurs just reached the NBA Finals, and their stars have not even reached their prime.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won the title last year and still boast the deepest roster in the league. Even after the Suns’ offseason moves, it’s hard to place them in that company.
Phoenix has tried to patch things up around the edges by bringing in Miles Bridges for the frontcourt and adding veteran shooter Luke Kennard. But those additions don’t change the basic shape of the roster.
Booker no longer has a proven superstar running mate, and the hope is that Jalen Green can become that player. Right now, that remains a hope, not a certainty.
That’s why this conversation matters. Booker has carried the Suns through the rebuild years and the contending years.
He’s been the constant. But if Phoenix keeps living in the space between the Play-In Tournament and a first-round exit, it gets harder to imagine that kind of loyalty lasting forever.
By the time his current deal runs out, Booker will be 33, and those are the last prime years of an NBA star.
If the Suns can’t show him a real path forward soon, Buckley’s prediction starts to feel less like a hot take and more like a warning.
In Other News...
Summer League Could Expose Which Suns Prospects Are Actually Ready
The Suns head into 2026 Summer League with a roster that should tell them plenty about the next wave of their young talent. A mix of rookies and more seasoned prospects gives Phoenix a chance to sort through different stages of development, with first-rounders Peat and Maluach drawing the most attention and second-round picks Fleming and Brea also getting a real chance to show where they stand.
For a team trying to build out its future, this is the kind of setting that can separate long-term projects from players who are ready to push for a bigger role sooner rather than later. Peat, Maluach, Fleming and Brea all arrive with different expectations, and the Suns will be watching not just for production, but for the kind of progress that hints at how quickly each one can fit into the bigger picture. [Read more 🡒]
Miles Bridges Brings Another Off Court Cloud Over The Suns
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Both sides have now filed legal documents accusing the other of misconduct in connection with those custody issues, keeping the case active and the details in motion. For Phoenix, it is another unwelcome distraction attached to a player whose off-court history has already made every new development a sensitive one, and the Suns have not commented on the situation. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Just Raised The Stakes For Khaman Maluach
The Suns used a lottery pick on Khaman Maluach last summer because they wanted to build around his size and long-term upside at center, and they have not backed away from that plan. Even so, the roster around him has made the path more crowded, with Mark Williams back in the fold and Oso Ighodaro still in place, which means Maluach is entering a season where development and opportunity will have to line up at the right time.
Brian Gregory has already made clear that Maluachs minutes will be determined by a mix of factors once the season begins, so nothing is being handed to him. For now, the next chance to make his case comes in Las Vegas, where Summer League gives him a stage to show the Suns why he should be more than a developmental piece in a rotation that already has some established names ahead of him. [Read more 🡒]