If Devin Booker ever reaches the market, the Warriors sound ready to jump. Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard said on the Warriors Plus/Minus podcast that Golden State “loves” Booker and would be “first in line” to go after him. That interest makes sense on paper: Steve Kerr knows Booker from their time together with Team USA, and Stephen Curry has also spoken highly of the Suns star.
The problem is the obvious one. Phoenix has made it clear it does not want to move him.
Mat Ishbia has repeatedly described Booker as the franchise centerpiece and said the Suns plan to build a championship team around him. Booker also signed a massive contract extension last summer.
So this is not a case of negotiations already bubbling away. It is more a reminder that Golden State would be highly motivated if Phoenix ever reversed course.
The Warriors reportedly have three first-round picks available, but Curry is 38, which makes the fit of any future deal a moving target. Unless the Suns collapse quickly, the timelines may never line up.
Kyrie Irving is in a similar spot, at least in the rumor economy. His name keeps landing on speculative trade lists even though the Mavericks have repeatedly said they want to keep him. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report ranked Irving fourth among the NBA’s top potential trade targets, pointing to the idea that scoring-needy contenders would come calling if Dallas slips out of the playoff race.
That logic is hard to dismiss. Irving is still one of the league’s most dangerous offensive players, and he could reach free agency next summer by turning down his player option. But showing up on a trade-target list is not the same thing as being shopped.
Dallas wants to see how Irving fits alongside Cooper Flagg, and new coach Dusty May has spent the offseason praising both Irving’s game and his leadership. The Mavericks also brought in more shooting around them with Santi Aldama, Zaccharie Risacher and Tarik Biberovic.
If the season goes sideways, the deadline questions will come back fast. For now, though, Irving looks like a player other teams want more than a player Dallas is eager to move.
And then there is Dyson Daniels, who drew a very specific kind of attention: a bold shooting prediction. Rohan Roman of NBA on SI said Daniels will hit 36 percent from three this season after he shot just 18.8 percent from deep last year. Daniels only took 1.5 threes per game and basically took that shot out of his offense.
The case for improvement starts with the roster around him. Lu Dort should lighten Daniels’ nightly defensive load, while Kingston Flemings and Nickeil Alexander-Walker can add playmaking and spacing.
There are also signs Daniels has more there than last season’s raw number showed. He shot 36.4 percent from three with Trae Young on the floor in 2024-25, and he has posted solid corner numbers in limited chances.
Even so, getting all the way to 36 percent would be a major leap. Atlanta may not need that much.
If Daniels simply becomes a respectable catch-and-shoot threat, defenses can’t afford to treat him like a non-factor. With his defense, passing and rebounding, even 33 percent on real volume could feel like 40 to the Hawks.
In Other News...
Suns Look Tougher Now But One Roster Concern Still Looms
The Suns spent the offseason trying to harden the edges of a roster that, at times, looked too easy to play against. Adding Miles Bridges gave Phoenix another physical wing who can absorb contact and create his own shot, while the long-term commitments for Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin helped stabilize the supporting cast around Devin Booker. With Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green also in the mix, the team appears built to bring more size, edge and perimeter juice than it had a year ago.
Still, the center spot remains the place where the optimism can get tested. Phoenix has real questions about depth inside, and one NBA scout pointed to that as the area most likely to keep the Suns from feeling truly complete. The perimeter pieces may be tougher and deeper now, but if the front line thins out, the pressure on Booker, Green and the rest of the wings to carry the load only grows. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Suddenly Have A Real Center Debate They Cant Ignore
Mark Williams arrival had already nudged Phoenix into a different conversation about how it wants to play, and now the Suns are back to sorting out the middle of the court again. With Williams sidelined by a torn labrum, the roster suddenly leans on Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach as the only true centers available, which puts an immediate spotlight on how much size, rim protection and lineup balance the Suns can realistically expect in the meantime.
Ighodaro offers one kind of answer because of his mobility and familiarity with the system, while Maluach brings a different kind of intrigue as a young option with plenty still to prove. The problem for Phoenix is that this is no longer a development question in a vacuum, it is a rotation issue with real stakes, and the Suns will have to decide quickly whether they can survive this stretch by leaning on one of them or by piecing together the position in less conventional ways. [Read more 🡒]
Booker Trade Idea Would Force A Massive Suns Reality Check
Devin Booker has become the kind of player every rumor mill loves to attach to a splashy deal, and this latest hypothetical from the Warriors only sharpens the conversation around Phoenixs long-term direction. On paper, the framework is easy to understand: Golden State would be chasing a true star in Booker, while the Suns would be weighing the kind of roster and financial reset that only comes with moving a franchise centerpiece.
The real intrigue is what such a scenario says about where Phoenix stands, because it would force a hard look at flexibility, age and the cost of staying in the top tier. For now, it remains purely speculative, but even imagined trades like this one underline how much pressure sits on the Suns whenever Bookers name enters the discussion. [Read more 🡒]