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Devin Booker Named to All-Rookie 1st Team

By Brendan Kennealy

Apr 13, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts after taking a jump shot against the Los Angeles Clippers at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 114-105. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts after taking a jump shot against the Los Angeles Clippers at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 114-105. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Devin Booker was named to the All-Rookie 1st Team on Thursday afternoon, along with Kristaps Porzingis, Jahlil Okafor, Nikola Jokic, and Karl Anthony-Towns.

The Phoenix Suns selected Devin Booker with the 13th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Booker made 51 starts and played in 76 games in 2015 and averaged 13.8 points per game over 27.7 minutes.

Booker joins Porzingis, Okafor, Jokic, and Anthony-Towns on the All-Rookie First Team this year. Booker and Anthony-Towns played with one another last season at the University of Kentucky. Booker finished with the third most votes amongst rookies behind Anthony-Towns, who won the rookie of the year award unanimously, and Porzingis. Booker received 103 first-team votes from the 130 possible votes.

In January, Booker averaged 17.3 points per game, he then dropped to 13.5 points per game in February, but then bolstered his numbers up to 22.4 points per game for the month of March, while adding 4.9 assists to his stat line as well.

Booker received a hefty sum of minutes over the last 50 games (49 starts) of the season. He averaged 34.7 minutes over the final 50 games with 17.9 points per game. His sharp-shooting ability helped stretch out the opposition’s defense each night as well.

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Booker scored 23 points in the Rising Stars Challenge over All-Star Weekend. Booker would also go on to finish third in the three-point competition behind Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.

Booker reached the 1,000 point mark on the season on April 9 against the New Orleans Pelicans. He became the fourth youngest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 points in his career behind Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant. Additionally, Booker scored at least 30 points in six games this season. It was the first time since Blake Griffin in 2010 that a rookie reached 30 points in six games.

For a few weeks, Booker was the main offensive option for the Suns following theEric Bledsoe season-ending injury and the Brandon Knight injury. Booker’s numbers did not drop since Knight’s return to the lineup as defenses have not been able to solely key in on the sharp-shooting rookie from Kentucky.

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Booker is still 19-years-old and will not turn 20-years-old until October. Obviously, it is too early to jump the gun and say that Booker will find himself in the elite shooting category of the NBA, but I truly believe that the potential is there for Booker to show off his sharpshooting abilities to the NBA as a whole in a very short time.

Booker fits in well with today’s game that is shaping up as more of a finesse and dead-eye shooters game due to the nature of this generation’s players.

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