Two Suns Projected to Make All-Star Game
The Phoenix Suns have spent much of their 2023-24 campaign struggling with consistency and finding an identity on the court, posting a paltry 14-15 record after their Christmas Day loss.
Phoenix has struggled, though this shouldn't impact Kevin Durant and Devin Booker making their respective returns to the NBA All-Star game, however.
Bleacher Report's NBA staff made their selections for each conference- 12 players broken down by five starters and seven bench players.
Durant and Booker were both chosen as reserves representing the Western Conference, with Durant as a front court reserve and Booker as a guard.
The explanations as to why both were selected are as follows, beginning with why Booker was chosen over Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox.
"Devin Booker's assumption of point guard duties isn't the only reason he broke a deadlock with De'Aaron Fox for this spot, but it helped. In addition to averaging just over 8.0 assists per game in his first season as the Phoenix Suns' primary ball-handler, Booker narrowly bests Fox in true shooting percentage, Player Efficiency Rating and EPM.
"If you want to hand this spot to the Sacramento Kings point guard on the strength of his much lower turnover rate, higher scoring average and small advantage in games played, that's defensible. Fox's Kings are notably higher in the standings than Booker's Suns, too.
"In the end, we're going with Booker at least in part because his degree of difficulty—due to injuries and a new position—is a touch higher."
As for Durant, the choice was clear:
"Surprisingly the healthiest of the Phoenix Suns' three stars, Kevin Durant has spent a significant chunk of 2023-24 carrying a squad populated by minimum signings and castoffs to a respectable record. Despite tough conditions and a consistent lack of help, he's up over 30.0 points per game for the first time since he led the league in scoring during the 2013-14 campaign.
"He also hasn't lost a step from an efficiency standpoint, even if he's doing things a little differently this season.
"We should expect Durant to quit making 46.7 percent of his threes at some point, but any dropoff there will be offset by an inevitable spike in mid-range accuracy. KD hasn't been this errant on his pet two-point jumpers in a decade, so you know positive regression is coming.
"Still a bucket of the highest order, still an underrated defender and still the face you see under "matchup nightmare" in the dictionary, KD cannot be left off the All-Star roster. This'll be his 14th appearance, which will tie him with Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki and Jerry West for fifth-most all time."
While Booker's status in the game wasn't in question, it is interesting that there was a debate to give Fox the guard reserve spot and relegate Booker to one of the two wild card positions.
As for Durant - the soon-to-be 14 time All-Star will presumably be a starter once again, but in this exercise he was sent to the bench in favor of Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard.
One thing is for certain: for as many issues as the Suns have faced this season, they still have two of the best players in the world - and that will hopefully give the team a fighting chance going forward.
The 73rd edition of the NBA All-Star Game will be played on February 18, 2024 in Indianapolis.
