Booker Joins 10K Club

So far, Devin Booker has kept a relatively low profile for such an immense talent — but surely his cover’s blown now.

On Wednesday, the 25-year-old became the seventh-youngest in NBA history to reach 10,000 points, going off in superstar mode for a season-high 38 in a win over OKC.

Booker frequently goes unnoticed in discussions of elite players, but this season he’s starting to sneak into the history books as the most efficient offensive threat on a Suns team tied with the Warriors for the West’s top seed — and is well on his way to joining the all-timers.

• His career-high six threes against OKC matched him with LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the only players with 10,000 PTS and 800 3PM before turning 26.
• Booker is 13th in scoring and shooting the three-ball at a 42.8% clip — the highest among the league’s top 30 scorers.
• He has Phoenix’s best offensive rating (113.5) and is the only Sun with multiple 30-point games (8).

In 2018, Booker signed a five-year, $158 million extension through 2024 that made him the highest-paid player in franchise history.

Phoenix opted for continuity and growth this offseason, re-signing Chris Paul (four years, $120M) and Mikal Bridges (four years, $90M), as well as Cam Payne, Frank Kaminsky, and Abdel Nader, but there’s still some win-now urgency — the ring-hungry Paul is 36.

Golden State might own the tiebreaker, but it wouldn’t be wise to sleep on Booker or the Suns — they have the fourth-best odds to win the title (+750*).