Devin Booker, Suns Contract is Well Worth The Price

PHOENIX — Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker will always be overlooked on a national level.

That's the reality of a player who clearly is one of the best at his position, though playing in Phoenix — on a Suns team that hasn't seen massive ups and downs since Booker entered the league — will always follow him.

The franchise's leading scorer and undisputed face of the program inked a historic contract extension last offseason in the form of a two-year, $145 million deal. Booker, upon signing the extension, earned the most annual average for any player. Ever.

Booker's overall contract length (four years, $250.6 million) landed him on Bleacher Report's top five worst NBA contracts.

What Bleacher Report Said

"Devin Booker vs. Donovan Mitchell is a legitimate debate. Many will place Spida's new deal higher up on the ladder, if only because he's owed an extra year and $72.4 million. That's fair," wrote Dan Favale.

"At the same time, Booker is the only one of the two guaranteed to have a top-10 salary in each of the next two seasons. Paying someone like a Second Team All-NBA staple when they've made just one All-NBA squad, period, over the past four years is dangerous territory.

"Booker is probably better suited to lifting up an inferior supporting cast. He has more levels to his playmaking. But his reliance on mid-range jumpers is at an all-time high, coinciding with a drop in rim frequency compared to just a few years ago.

"Although Mitchell will face similar challenges and fall into the smaller-guard box, he can lean on a mix of three-point volume and efficiency that Booker has never delivered. That should make for a more graceful aging curve."

Why That Contract Was Needed

Hindsight always feels 20/20, and it also feels like anybody wearing a Suns jersey won't nearly get the recognition they deserve. That can be said for Booker.

Booker, who again earned All-Star honors this season, has been forced to adjust him game in recent years. Gone are the days where he had Chris Paul orchestrating the offense to allow him to thrive in his natural two-spot.

Recent seasons have seen him deal with Kevin Durant/Bradley Beal rosters on top of being forced into more of a point guard role with Jalen Green in the backcourt with him.

Booker's gravity on the court is matched by his significance for the franchise and in the community. Owner Mat Ishbia knows that.

He isn't perfect. There's shortcomings to his playstyle and the Suns aren't obvious title contenders at the moment. That's fine.

However, the Suns needed Booker to stick around. And if a historical contract extension was the price of keeping a pillar of the organization, that's just the cost of doing business.

Booker still has high level basketball ahead of him, and so long as that's the case, the Suns are justified in their spending.

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