Devin Booker punched the gas to start the season. He posted five 30-point games in his first six outings.
But life in the NBA was never going to be easy for Booker in 2025-26. He’s now the obvious point of emphasis for every opposition’s scouting report, and the bumps in the road have come as the schedule difficulty has ramped up.
Phoenix has kept chugging along despite injuries to Jalen Green and Grayson Allen, with Dillon Brooks and Collin Gillespie rising to the occasion as scorers. The Suns went 2-for-3 in the last three games against likely playoff teams in Minnesota, San Antonio and Houston.
Former Suns All-Star and Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley said Tuesday that he’s “proud” of how his former team is playing after watching their come-from-behind win against Minnesota in person on Friday.
“I love their second unit. That little kid, Gillespie, they’re playing so hard,” Barkley told Bickley & Marotta before offering a critique. “I need my starters to pick it up a little bit, especially Devin Booker. When you’re a star … it’s a double standard. It is what it is. You can’t get mad. You got to accept the responsibility. You have to come out and ball every night.
“I’m very proud of what my Suns are doing this year so far, but I need more aggressiveness and leadership from Devin Booker.”
Booker hasn’t cracked 20 points in three of his last four games, is below 40% shooting in his last three and has piled up mistakes in the form of bad fouls and live-ball turnovers, especially against Minnesota and again Monday night in a loss to Houston.
“That’s a thing I didn’t like about the game Friday night: I thought Devin was too lackadaisical,” Barkley said. “I’d rather you be overaggressive and screw up than be passive. I’ve always said, I don’t trust people who don’t get mad.
“I was telling (Suns owner Mat Ishbia), when Anthony Edwards comes to my house (if I’m Booker), that’s a guy who plays my position. I want to let him know, I think I’m the best two-guard, you can’t come to my house and outplay me.”
The Timberwolves not only pasted one of the league’s best defenders in Jaden McDaniels on Booker but sent second bodies at him with frequency.
The Rockets copy-pasted that game plan to nullify Booker again on Monday in a 114-92 Suns loss.
Overall, Booker has a few mildly concerning trends going beyond the last couple of games this season.
The 3-point shooting splits from six October games to 12 in November have fallen off from 43% on 7.3 attempts per game to 26% on just 4.8 tries from long range.
Booker is also turning the ball over at a 15.6% rate, which would end the year as a career-worst rate. For context, he turned the ball over at a rate of 11.9% or less in the past four seasons.
Absences have put more on Booker. It didn’t help Monday that the Suns were not only missing Green and Allen, but also Mark Williams and Ryan Dunn.
Head coach Jordan Ott dipped into the depth chart, starting reserves Jordan Goodwin, Royce O’Neale and Nick Richards against the Rockets.
Phoenix even leaned on two-way forward Isaiah Livers to play 23 minutes, and there was also a five-minute stint to second-round pick Rasheer Fleming, who picked up three fouls in that span.
But Gillespie has continued to thrive despite the roster changes around him, scoring 16 points to go with four steals against Houston.
“That second unit, I’m so proud of those guys, led by Mr. Gillespie,” Barkley said. “They do what a second group is supposed to do, just come in there and bring energy. You might not get the lead, but the lead isn’t going to grow.”