Getty Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns during the second half of the NBA game at Footprint Center.
The Phoenix Suns will enter the 2023 NBA playoffs with a significantly different look from last year. New Suns owner Matt Ishbia shocked the world in the waning hours leading up to the NBA trade deadline and made a deal for All-NBA forward Kevin Durant. Unfortunately, that meant parting ways with three players who were key in their 2021 NBA Finals run. Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, and Jae Crowder.
Bridges was pretty much a role player during the first four and a half years in Phoenix. This season he averaged 17.2 points per game on 46.3% shooting for the Suns. But since being traded to the Brooklyn Nets, Bridges has blossomed into a superstar as he is averaging 26.1points per game. When asked about Bridges’ emergence, Suns star Devin Booker says it’s something he and his teammates saw while the newest Nets star was still in Phoenix.
“I think it was happening here. Everything is situational. Obviously, the ball is in his hands a lot more there, but we saw it in him. The time that I missed, he was going crazy,” Booker said to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
“I was the first one to always encourage him from his first shot in the NBA, like, ‘I need you to be aggressive. I need someone to take some pressure off.’ He’ll be the first one to tell you. I’m telling him to shoot more every time we played with each other. Now he’s getting that opportunity.”
Devin Booker Sounds off on Suns Upcoming Playoff Run
Booker will be looking to lead his team to a second NBA Finals appearance in three years when they kick off the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers. Many people believe the Suns are the odds-on favorite to win the title after adding a future Hall of Famer in Durant to a core that already features Booker, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Ayton.
But Booker says that no matter what the oddsmakers are saying, he and his teammates have to be prepared for an uphill battle against the league’s top teams.
“You can never know what to expect with the playoffs. You just have to control what you can control. Lock into details of the game. It’s not going to be easy. We understand that,” Booker said of the upcoming playoff run.
Devin Booker Sounds off on Kevin Durant Fit
Durant has only appeared in eight games since being traded to the Suns as injuries have held him back from really finding any consistency with his teammates. But with players like Booker and Durant, the game seemingly comes effortlessly. They have not had much time to get acclimated, but Booker says in the short time he and Durant have shared the floor they have gelled quite nicely. He also says that knowing Durant believes in this Suns squad makes it even easier to play with him.
“Yeah, and that’s how I felt in the first three games out there with him. He’s a true hooper, and this is the place that he wanted to go. So he’d obviously seen something in this team. He believes in everybody on this team, and the coach,” Booker said to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“You know, he and (Suns coach) Monty (Williams) have history (from their time together on Team USA and the 2015-16 season together in Oklahoma City). Him and Chris have Olympic history, just like me and him do. So there’s been a relationship there prior to (the deal) going down. I think that’s step one, knowing what type of person you’re going to get. And he’s just a straight hooper.”