National Basketball Association

5 Best Sophomore Phoenix Suns: Bar Set High For Devin Booker

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Mar 12, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives in against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Suns 123-116. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Phoenix Suns’ sophomore superstar in the making, Devin Booker, enters with some of the highest expectations around a Suns player in years.

Booker stormed through the league in the second half of his rookie season with the Phoenix Suns in 2015-16, and even more is expected for his encore.

If Booker is truly held to the standard of former Phoenix Suns’ greats, he is going to need an exceptional break out season.

More from Valley of the Suns

Booker spent his rookie season on an injury depleted team that lacked the talent and healthy bodies to compete most nights.

The 2016-17 Suns look to be a better team (health/luck aside), but they also are a very young team with three guards worthy of starting.

A big question for Booker will be guarding the small forward position. Is he a small forward? No. But if it gets him onto the court, the Suns should explore this option.

Increased versatility on the defensive end will only help Booker and the Suns in the long run. If Booker proves able to defend small forwards in small-ball lineups, it will be a huge boost to his defensive value.

Offensively. Book needs to simply continue to progress he made last season. Despite his reputation as a sharp shooter, Booker’s 34.3% from three was almost identical to Brandon Knight (34.2%) and good for 8th on the Suns. However, Booker was the Suns’ fourth best scorer per 36 minutes last year.

Booker also showed flashes offensively was his passing, finishing with 200 assists against 160 turnovers. Not great numbers, but comparable to Archie Goodwin and Sonny Weems. Again, not great players to be comparable to, but the difference is Devin Booker was a 19-year-old shooting guard.

No In-Editor Preview for ONEUPSPORTS Videos

Devin Booker has an opportunity to expand his game in so many ways. He will need to if he wants to match anyone on this list. At number 5….

5. Kyle Macy, 1981-82 Phoenix Suns

Macy was drafted by the Phoenix Suns 22nd overall in the 1979 NBA Draft, and followed up his solid rookie campaign with a reliable and productive sophomore season running the show.

The University of Kentucky guard (somethings never change!) played nearly 35 minutes per game and appeared in all 82 games for the 46-36 Suns that eventually lost in four games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.

More from Valley of the Suns

On the season, Macy averaged 14.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and just 1.5 turnovers per game. He shot an incredibly efficient .514/.390/.899 percent from the field/three/free throw line, leading the NBA in free throw percentage and finishing 3rd in three-point percentage.

Don’t be confused by the video game like numbers from Steph Curry and the Splash Brothers: Macy’s 39.0% from three was a very impressive mark for his era. In fact, Macy has to go down as one of the best-shooting guards in NBA history (no joke!).

Look at his effective field goal percentage (a percentage that considers 3’s and free throws): .523%, good for 90th in NBA history. Considering big men dominate stats like field goal percentage, Macy was clearly an ace shooter.

4. Walter Davis 1978-79 Phoenix Suns

Davis was following up his rookie of the year campaign from the season before, and put up numbers nearly as good. This was almost the exact same pattern established just a few years prior by the Phoenix Suns’ Alvan Adams.

Adams and Davis would both almost be haunted by the productivity of their early careers. Both had long productive careers, but both could never exceed that initial standard they set.

More from Valley of the Suns

One noticeable dip came in Davis’ rebounding numbers, a trend that would continue and ultimately become a hole in his game. After his rookie season average of 6.0 rebounds per game, he only averaged over 4 rebounds per game one more time: his sophomore season with the Suns (4.7 per game).

Along with those respectable 4.7 rebounds, Davis also averaged 23.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, while shooting 56.1 percent from the field and 83.1 percent from the free throw line. 

This Phoenix Suns team ended up going 50-32, ultimately losing in seven games to the eventual NBA Champions, the Seattle SuperSonics. The Suns would trade Paul Westphal that summer to the Sonics for their guard Dennis Johnson.

Davis averaged 22.1 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in the playoffs that season.

3. Larry Nance, 1982-83 Phoenix Suns

Nance dominated the paint defensively for the Suns more than any other big man. His 217 blocks in 1982-83 is still the franchise record and were third in the NBA that season.

In addition to firmly establishing himself as an elite defender in his sophomore season, Nance also became a productive offensive player. The turnover and fouling issues with his game improved significantly, and he overall became much more efficient.

He would ultimately have a remarkably productive career, with advanced metrics like Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) valuing him extremely high (31st in NBA history).

In the 1982-83 season, Nance averaged 16.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists against 2.3 turnovers, 1.2 steals, and 2.6 blocks per game.

Nance had seven productive seasons before the Suns traded him as part of the deal to get Kevin Johnson, a player you just might see later on this list.

Shawn Marion 2000-01 Phoenix Suns

The Matrix: world-class athleticism mixed with a non-stop motor and a high basketball intelligence.

A versatile athlete, Marion showed tremendous growth in his second season. He would average 17.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists against 1.6 turnovers, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. He was even named the NBA Player of the Week in late February.

At 22, Marion was already a defensive weapon for the Suns that absolutely cleaned up the defensive boards and still scored efficiently.

This Suns team, coached by Scott Skiles, went 51-31 before losing 3 games to 1 in the first round against the Sacramento Kings. The team included Jason Kidd, Clifford Robinson, and Tony Delk.

1. Kevin Johnson 1988-89 Phoenix Suns

The greatest sophomore campaign in Phoenix Suns’ history was fittingly done by one of the greatest in Suns’ history: K.J.

Acquired part way through his rookie season in 1987-88, Johnson had played well during that first partial season with the Suns.

With an entire offseason, K.J. would put up one of the finest season in Suns’ history, period.

K.J. averaged 20.4 points, 12.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.7 steals against 4.0 turnovers per game. 

Outside of the turnovers, the only real knock on K.J. was his three-point shooting, something he never did develop well.

Johnson made All-NBA 2nd team, finished 8th in MVP voting (just ahead of fellow Sun Tom Chambers) and finished 3rd in assists per game.

The Phoenix Suns went 55-27 that season, eventually being swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. This was a massive turnaround from the Suns’ 28-54 record the year before.

If Devin Booker can have an impact similar to Kevin Johnson, maybe the Suns can have a similar turnaround. If not, Suns fans will need a little more patience.

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Basketball Association