You like 30+ points? Devin Booker’s starting to flirt with the number more often.
Devin Booker is starting to look like the lethal scorer we’ve come to know, a player capable of catching fire and torching opponents on any given night. Over the past five games, he’s averaged 26.6 points, creeping back into the rarefied air of consistent 30-point performances.
For most players, hitting the 30-point mark is a headline-worthy feat; for Booker, it’s been a hallmark of his ten-year career. He’s now done it 196 times after scoring 30 in the Suns’ win over the Hornets.
It’s been nearly a decade since Booker first crossed that threshold on January 19, 2016. Since then, the buckets have poured in like water from a busted fire hydrant. Now sitting at 15,350 career points, Booker is just 317 points shy of overtaking the late, great Walter Davis as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, a crown he’s seemingly destined to wear.
But this season, the points haven’t come as easily. Booker’s scoring output feels more like a leaky faucet than the free-flowing geyser Suns fans are used to. The culprit? Schematics.
Under head coach Mike Budenholzer’s system, the emphasis on three-point shooting has turned Booker into a volume three-point shooter, attempting a career-high 7.7 threes per game. His accuracy, however, has suffered. He’s just 33.7% from deep, the second-worst clip of his career.
The adjustment is evident in his shot selection. Booker has traded mid-range mastery for a heavier diet of perimeter looks, a shift that feels both necessary and jarring. Budenholzer’s offense thrives on spacing and the long ball, but it’s a stark contrast to the methodical, pick-your-poison style that once defined Booker’s game.
Yet, as with any great scorer, adaptation is part of the journey. Booker’s recent stretch suggests he’s finding his rhythm, navigating the push and pull of a system designed to maximize team success over individual flair. If history tells us anything, it’s that Devin Booker doesn’t just adapt. He thrives.
I said it earlier this season, and I’ll say it again: Devin Booker has been the good soldier, saluting Mike Budenholzer’s three-point-heavy system and playing the role of company man. But here’s the twist. Budenholzer is starting to buy into Booker, not just the other way around. The shifts in rotations, the tweaks in usage, the subtle surrender to letting Booker cook? It’s all happening.
And you know what? Booker is starting to Book again.
Before the groin injury that sidelined him, Booker looked like a man trapped in a system rather than a system built around the man. Just seven 30-point games in his first 26 outings. Seven. That’s a player finding his way in a new offensive landscape. The Suns? 4-3 in those rare eruptions, a frustrating stat line for a guy who used to toss up 30 like it was a casual Tuesday.
But in the last four games? It’s been a different story. Booker has cleared the 30-point mark three times, dragging the Suns to a 3-1 record in the process. Last night, he did it again, notching his 196th career 30-point game and leapfrogging Anthony Davis for the sixth most since Booker entered the league in 2015-16. And in the context of Phoenix Suns history, he’s already running laps. Walter Davis, the franchise’s previous standard-bearer, had 90 career 30-point games. Booker? He’s got 196. Ninety-six more.
There are still adjustments to be made, still kinks in the system to smooth out for Booker to fully reclaim his All-Star form. But make no mistake: he’s on his way. The stroke is coming back, the swagger is creeping in, and the Suns are reaping the benefits. This isn’t just Booker finding his groove. It’s a system recalibrating to the reality that Devin Booker is the system.