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Jalen Green Shares Why New Suns Scoring Duo With Devin Booker Could Work

Green was dealt to Phoenix as a centerpiece of the Kevin Durant trade.
Jalen Green and Devin Booker are the newest scoring duo for the Phoenix Suns after the Kevin Durant trade
Jalen Green and Devin Booker are the newest scoring duo for the Phoenix Suns after the Kevin Durant trade | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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When guard Jalen Green joined the Phoenix Suns after he was traded by the Houston Rockets as part of the Kevin Durant blockbuster deal, an immediate question surfaced.

Could an offense centered around two ball-dominant guards in Green and longtime Suns star Devin Booker work? Well, for those concerned, Green addressed the new polarizing partnership directly.

"We're two people who know how to score the basketball, we're two people who know how to attract the defense," Green said in Las Vegas at NBA Summer League Friday via the Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin. "And everyone's going to step around us. So when we're doing something like that, you got to pick who you want to score tonight.

"And me and him both, it's going to be a deadly scoring duo."

Green was the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA draft and averaged 20.1 points per game over his four seasons in Houston. He shot 35.4% from three on just over eight attempts per game last season. He's played in all 82 games in each of his past two seasons.

Booker freshly inked a whopping two-year, $145 million extension to remain with the Suns through the 2030 season. Last season, he averaged 25.6 points and 7.1 assists per game.

If the immediate reaction is concern about the new high-powered scoring duo in the Valley, Phoenix's newest star guard sure isn't worried.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a writer at Sports Illustrated, primarily covering the NBA and WNBA. Before joining SI in November 2024 as a breaking/trending news writer, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation and A10Talk. He’s an alum of both Michigan State and St. Bonaventure University, receiving a master’s degree from the Bonnies’ sports journalism program. Outside of work, he’s a husband, father, yogi and fairly mediocre tennis player who’s open to any tips on how to play defense in EA Sports College Football.