Getty Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, who left the game due to injury tonight.
With 4:30 left in the first quarter, the Suns’ Devin Booker went up for an entry pass in the post and suffered a scary ankle injury, forcing him to be carried off the court. After stringing together four straight 30 point games (along with back to back 50 pointers), Booker had been playing some of his best basketball of the season.
Thankfully, shortly after being taken to the locker room, Booker would only be diagnosed with a sprained ankle, avoiding any major injury.
Suns’ Devin Booker Ankle Injury Video
Prior to the injury, Booker had eight points in just eight minutes on three of four shooting from the field.
While the injury looked considerably worse, Booker thankfully was only diagnosed with a sprained ankle and raised questions of if the Suns should simply just shut him down for the rest of the season. Still extremely young and fresh off signing a massive contract extension, the Suns have nothing to play for on the season and running the risk of a more serious injury to their franchise cornerstone seems downright irrational.
Phoenix Suns Lottery Options
Currently expected to land in the top three of the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns are poised to have the best possible shot at landing the top overall pick and Zion Williamson. Barring an unlikely winning streak, the Suns will almost certainly find themselves holding onto a top three pick in the NBA Draft.
The most obvious choice if the Suns wind up with the top overall pick would be Zion Williamson. Pairing Williamson with Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker would make for an incredibly young and mean big three that would immediately become must-watch TV. With Ayton and Williamson’s ability to run the floor and get above the rim, defenses would be less equipped to lock in on Booker, freeing him up to do what he does best – score.
Should the Suns not land the top overall pick, the most obvious choice for them should be Ja Morant. In desperate need of a point guard to help take the playmaking load off Devin Booker, Morant fits the bill perfectly on the offensive end. While a Morant-Booker pairing would leave a bit to be desired defensively, they should more than make up for their shortcomings on that end with a flashy and fast-paced offense.
Outside of Morant and Williamson, the Suns might be best-suited trading that pick down as although there are other talented wing prospects available, they could recoup some value on the pick and still land a solid point guard in the 10-20 range of the draft. Point guards are fairly thin up top outside of Morant and taking a gamble on someone like Darius Garland might not be the worst bet. Garland was once one of the highest touted recruits entering 2018-2019 before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Although a risk given his injury, Garland possesses a ton of upside and would potentially slot in as a very solid fit alongside Booker.