Phoenix Suns: What If...Devin Booker's pass had been on target?

Time. Space. Reality.

It’s more than a linear path. It’s a prism of endless possibility. Where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know.

I am the Suns Watcher. I am your guide through these vast, new realities. Follow me, and ponder the question: What if?

As he had done so many times before, Devin Booker curled off a screen and secured the handoff from Deandre Ayton. Booker lost his balance, ever so slightly, with P.J. Tucker hounding him at the top of the key. The behemoth Giannis Antetokounmpo loomed before him on the other side of Ayton, blocking his path to the rim. It was Game 4 of the 2021 NBA Finals, but the face of the Phoenix Suns knew what he had to do. He had to draw the attention of an NBA titan.

Book put the ball on the floor, attempting to draw the Greek Freak precious inches higher as his 7-footer slipped toward the basket. With Tucker breathing down his neck, Booker saw Ayton raise an arm and point toward the rim. He was open. The game-tying bucket was there. All he had to do was deliver the pass.

Book put the ball on the floor for one more dribble, but to his dismay, he saw Giannis slide with him back toward the basket. His attempt to draw the Greek Freak closer hadn’t worked. The Milwaukee Bucks star was already closing ground on Ayton’s dive to the rim. It was now or never. Booker flipped the lob up to his big man with one hand, right off the dribble, as he’d done so many times all year long.

The degree of difficulty on that pass was astronomically high. It required a deft hand, advanced knowledge of the game and strong chemistry with his teammate. But with Giannis patrolling the paint and Tucker forcing the issue, Booker watched as the ball soared slightly over the ideal spot for an alley-oop. Ayton, with all his length, leaping ability and athleticism, caught it as it faded past the far side of the rim. The lob was ever so slightly off target, but DA was still going to provide yet another electrifying finish — only this time, it would be in the last two minutes of a Finals game. He was going to give the Phoenix Suns a 3-1 advantage, pulling them closer to an NBA championship than they’d ever been before.

In your universe, the story of what happened next has become legend: Giannis Antetokounmpo would not be denied. The Greek Freak became a Greek god that day, recovering for the kind of soul-crushing block that literally only he could make in that situation. The Bucks still led by two. Two Khris Middleton misses and one catastrophic Chris Paul turnover later, Middleton scored on a tough fast break finish, putting Milwaukee up by four with 27 seconds left. The Bucks closed out Game 4 from the free-throw line, closed the series gap to 2-2 and eventually closed out the Finals with four straight wins.

WHAT IF DEVIN BOOKER’S PASS HAD BEEN SLIGHTLY MORE ON TARGET?

But what of another, parallel Suns universe? The one where Booker didn’t take that extra dribble, and his pass was right on the money before Giannis could retreat far enough to make one of the most clutch defensive plays in NBA Finals history?

In that reality, the world stood transfixed by Book’s brilliant little flip pass for a brief moment…until Ayton shattered the silence by smashing it home with authority. The Suns bench erupted into cheers that sounded even louder juxtaposed against the deafening hush that fell over the Fiserv Forum crowd. Game 4 was tied at 101 with 1:14 to play. Phoenix simply wasn’t going away. Milwaukee’s confidence was shaken as a nervous murmur ran through the crowd. And instead of Middleton having three straight looks at a basket en route to his 35th and 36th points of the night, the Bucks had to try and score against one of the best half-court defenses in the NBA.

Chris Paul was no longer trying to force anything off the dribble against Milwaukee’s best two defenders in the final 30 seconds. Phoenix, which posted the league’s best record against teams above .500 and second-best record in crunch-time situations during the regular season, believed it could eke out a tough win against a good team like it had done so many times before. And while Devin Booker still finished his night with 42 points, in this alternate dimension, empowered by his momentum-swaying assist for an emphatic alley-oop, his final bucket was the go-ahead basket and ultimately the game-winner, not a meaningless layup to pull Phoenix back within four in the game’s dying moments.

Thanks to just one slightly more accurate pass, the Suns stole Game 4 on the road to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. They avoided losing three games in a row for just the second time all season, and because he got the win and delivered the game-changing assist, Book’s 42 points were hailed as an all-time heroic Finals performance in the same vein as the great Charles Barkley.

With that commanding 3-1 lead, Milwaukee’s backs against the wall and a title-starved crowd awaiting at home, when the Suns went up by 16 at the end of the first quarter in Game 5, that gut punch took the wind out of Milwaukee’s sails. There would be no drastic six-minute turnaround to start the second quarter this time. “Fear the Deer” became “deer in the headlights” as the Suns turned their opponents into roadkill. Led by another Booker 40-piece in a closeout performance, all of Phoenix rejoiced watching the clock tick down on the franchise’s first championship.

Footprint Center ignited when the final horn sounded. Chris Paul and Monty Williams shared another heartwarming embrace. Booker and Ayton celebrated their first title in their first playoff run with a giant hug and even bigger smiles, knowing their connection in Game 4 helped set the stage for this moment. It was even sweeter for DA, who was undoubtedly heading for a max contract extension thanks to his incredible debut playoff run. Mikal Bridges and Cameron Payne danced together at center court, while Jae Crowder jumped on the scorer’s table and started salsa dancing with the fans, just as he had promised.

After more than 50 years of wandering the desert, 11 years of playoff drought and far too many years of hearing their superstar called an “empty stats player,” the Suns fanbase watched with teary eyes as Devin Booker cradled a Larry O’Brien Trophy and a Finals MVP trophy in each arm.

Finally, the world saw him for the superhero Phoenix Suns fans knew him to be all along…and it started with a pass that was just a few inches shorter and a split-second quicker. His one choice gave birth to a whole new history and gave the NBA multiverse a new hero.

As for me? These are my stories. I observe all that transpires here, but I do not, cannot, will not interfere. For I am…the Suns Watcher.