Devin Booker’s first two games have already delivered the kind of whiplash Suns fans are going to see all season.
Phoenix is 1-1, and Booker has looked like two different players in the span of a few days. In the 41-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, he and the rest of the Suns were out of sorts from the start. Then he followed that with 43 points in a win over the Golden State Warriors, the kind of night that reminds everyone exactly why the Suns are built around him.
That swing is not a glitch. It’s the reality of what this season is going to look like.
Booker is about to turn 30, and Phoenix has made it clear it wants to construct a contender around him. The problem is that the fit around him still looks uneven.
It is unclear why the Suns keep asking him to handle point guard duties at times, or why they keep trying to make the backcourt work with another scorer in Jalen Green. Booker has not publicly pushed back on any of it.
What fans should not do is treat every rough shooting night like proof that his best days are gone. Booker still has the offensive talent to carry a game, but that does not mean he can drag this team through an 82-game season by himself. Especially not when Miles Bridges has not yet matched expectations, and especially not when the Suns are staring at tougher nights against teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs.
The reverse is true too. When Booker lights up a lesser opponent like the Warriors, that does not suddenly mean Phoenix is ready to breeze through a playoff series. Owner Mat Ishbia has already said publicly that he believes that will happen this season, but one big Booker game does not settle that argument.
The 3-point shot is another part of this story, and it’s one Booker will be expected to clean up. Through two games, he has gone 2-of-7 from deep, with all of those attempts coming in the win over Golden State. He did not take a 3-pointer in the blowout loss to Portland, even while being the Suns’ best player, and that issue stretches back beyond opening week.
That matters because Booker is such a polished shooter and mid-range scorer already. A career 35.2 percent mark from 3 is not where he or Phoenix want it to be.
And the pieces around him do not make life easier. Bridges and Dillon Brooks do not stretch the floor enough, while Jalen Green and Khaman Maluach are not elite from outside either.
So Booker is going to keep carrying a heavy offensive load, and some nights he’ll look unstoppable. Other nights, the scoring will dip and the conversation will get louder.
Neither version means the Suns are automatically doomed, and neither version means they are suddenly a championship team. That’s the season they’ve signed up for, and fans are better off getting used to it.
In Other News...
Suns Could Already Have A Trade Opportunity Fans Didn't See Coming
The Suns may already have a little roster-business wrinkle on their hands as Orlando weighs an answer to Jalen Suggs injury. Phoenix has both Jordan Goodwin and Jamaree Bouyea available, and either name could draw attention from a Magic team looking to stabilize its backcourt without overcommitting resources. For the Suns, it is the kind of opportunity that can appear quickly in the margins, especially when they are sorting out a roster built around veterans and asset management.
Goodwin stands out as the more valuable piece after recently signing a three-year contract, while Bouyea looks like the more affordable route if Orlando wants a lower-cost addition. Phoenix has other veterans on the roster who could also attract interest as teams around the league start searching for solutions, and this is the sort of situation where a small transaction can turn into a meaningful one. The question now is whether the Suns see a chance to keep one of those guards or use the market to add more future value. [Read more 🡒]
Shawn Marion Just Reopened A Hall Of Fame Debate In Phoenix
Shawn Marions return to the Suns building before the home opener against the Golden State Warriors served as a reminder of how much his career still resonates in Phoenix. Honored in front of the home crowd, Marion looked back on the defensive identity that made him such a unique force in the NBA, while also reflecting on how different eras shape the way players are remembered. He spoke with clear appreciation for the franchises history and the former Suns who helped define it.
Marion also touched on the Hall of Fame conversation that continues to follow him, and he didnt shy away from the idea that league politics can shape that process. For a player whose value was never always captured by the usual stat-line conversation, the timing of his comments only sharpened the debate around his place in basketball history. In Phoenix, where he remains one of the most memorable figures of that era, the conversation is hardly going away. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Starters Have An Early Problem The Bench Isn't Showing
The early returns have left Phoenix with an unusual twist: the starting group is still trying to sort out its chemistry, even as the season gets going. New pieces have changed the mix, and the Suns have already felt the effects on both ends of the floor, where communication and coordination are still works in progress. It is the kind of issue that can take time to smooth out, especially when roles are still being defined.
Devin Booker pointed to the second unit as the steadier group right now, with the bench showing a better grasp of responsibilities and a clearer sense of how to play together. For the Suns, that creates an interesting imbalance. The unit that most teams count on to set the tone is still searching for its rhythm, while the group behind it looks more settled, and the fix may simply come down to more practice and more time together. [Read more 🡒]