PHOENIX – Devin Booker turns 30 on Friday. In NBA years, that puts him in old man category, about four years older than the league average of 25.9 years. Just 17.5% of NBA players were 30 or older, according to a USA Today report from last season.
When people think of the Phoenix Suns, Booker is the first name that comes to mind. Booker’s tenure has been defined by an unexpected run to the NBA Finals, some spectacular individual play but ultimately disappointing team results.
In his first season in the NBA, Booker earned All-Rookie First Team honors, and he has helped the Suns reach the NBA playoffs five times, including the 2021 NBA Finals where Phoenix fell short to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games after taking a 2-0 series lead.
The five-time All-Star has also cemented himself as a Suns legend, becoming the highest scorer in the team’s history.
But entering the 12th year of his career, questions linger as to whether Booker, a shooting guard in search of a perfect match at point guard, can continue performing at an elite level.
Those questions gained steam following Monday’s loss to Oklahoma City Thunder when Booker scored only three points in 34 minutes – the fewest points he has scored since Dec. 25, 2022, when he scored two against the Denver Nuggets.
Just three games into the season, a report suggests tension in the Suns locker room may already be brewing because of the point guard problem.
“There’s some growing frustration within that locker room for the simple fact that that roster does not have a point guard that can organize that offense,” NBA Insider Chris Haynes said. “The hope is that they can kind of play this role by committee, but as of right now, it’s not looking like it.”
Booker was once viewed as a future face of the league when he made the All-NBA First Team in 2022 while also finishing fourth in MVP voting. But in some circles he has become a polarizing figure, despite having made All-NBA Third Team in 2024 and two All-Stars squads since.
The Suns have tried everything to recapture that run to the Finals, but now find themselves relying on Booker just to make the playoffs. In their second game of the season, following an opening-night beatdown by Portland, Booker dropped 43 points against the banged-up Golden State Warriors in a 131-122 win.
Relying on one player to win games in the NBA isn’t wise, but that hasn’t stopped some fans and pundits from wanting to see more from Booker, including Eddie Johnson, the former Suns player who is now the team’s television color analyst.
“It’s a great thing,” Johnson told NextPredict after hearing Booker plans to shoot the ball more this season. “He needs to be aggressive. You’ve got to have the head of a snake.
“He has to be the one. It should not be equal shot distribution. He should be taking the most shots. He should be the one in the fourth quarter being the focus, the hub. That’s how it is, and that’s how it’s always going to be.”
Despite featuring Booker as the focal point for more than a decade, the Suns continue to search for a true identity after hefty trades that were meant to build a core around their star player.
Over the years, the Suns have brought in Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Miles Bridges to build a team around Booker, but with so many trades, Phoenix has been left short of assets, and with Booker’s age, an uncomfortable question grows:
Will the Suns eventually trade Booker, a Valley icon who is beloved for his connections to the community?
According to Golden State Warriors insider Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard, “the Warriors love Booker and would be ‘first in line’ to trade for him if he ever became available.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had a close-up view of Booker’s talents when he coached Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, telling reporters, “Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player. Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that.”
Despite teams likely being interested in Booker, Suns owner Mat Ishbia doesn’t appear interested in shipping him off soon. Burn City Sports posted a video in August in which Ishbia was asked if he’d be willing to trade Booker to the Detroit Pistons.
“When I’m dead,” said Ishbia, who has Michigan connections. “Devin Booker will never be a Detroit Piston.”
This wasn’t the first time Ishbia shut down trade rumors. In an April news conference, Ishbia made a colorful and bold proclamation.
“(He) is going to lead us to a championship here in Phoenix,” Ishbia said. “I’ll ride into a fire with Devin Booker, and I’ll do it proudly.”
Suns general manager Brian Gregory echoed the importance of Booker’s impact that same day.
“There’s so many things he does on the court that isn’t evaluated or seen,” Gregory said. “As a guy who watches a million games, I can feel it.
“When these other guys have had their career years, Devin’s had a lot to do with it. He’s our centerpiece. He’s our All-Star. He is driven to become better. He knows how important he is and more importantly, his teammates know that.”
Booker is under contract through the 2029-2030 NBA season, meaning he will remain a Suns player for at least four years, barring a trade. But considering the team’s draft capital, a trade may become an option if the Suns don’t progress in the next few years.
Phoenix only controls its 2032 first-round pick, with the rest being swaps or going to other teams directly following multiple trades, and while packages for certain players may be dealt, Booker could be a huge asset for the Suns to gain draft capital if they do consider rebuilding.
Duane Rankin, the Suns beat reporter for the Arizona Republic, reported in 2025 that sources believed Booker could command approximately four first-round picks and a rising young player in a potential trade.”
The Suns didn’t pull the plug then. Will they ever? Or will Booker continue to age gracefully with the only professional team he’s ever known?
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
