FanPost

Rift Between Devin Booker and Luka Doncic Continues to Grow

As the trade deadline approaches, Suns fans are wringing their hands hoping their team with two prominent stars is not about about to be ripped apart. When the Suns drafted Doncic #1 overall in the 2018 NBA draft there were many people screaming "how could we pass on the hometown UA big man Deandre Ayton"? Throughout Doncic’s rookie of the year campaign the choice looked like the right one and Coach Igor Kokoskov did a masterful job integrating Luka into his offense. It seemed the Suns planned this choice all along when they hired Igor and the 34-48 record hinted at a future that was indeed looking bright!

Deandre Ayton, drafted #2 by Sacramento had a solid rookie campaign, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting behind our Luka. He averaged 18 ppg to go along with 11 rebounds and seemed to mesh seamlessly with De’Aaaron Fox. With Buddy Hield, his fellow Bahamian and Bogdanovich splashing three’s the Kings were able to squeak into the playoffs with a 41-41 record as the 8 seed. This season he has upped those numbers to 21 points and 11 rebounds per game. He still credits Hield for teaching him how to acclimate to the NBA and avoid using any questionable supplements.

Sadly, our Suns are still searching for that elusive big man that can get us 20 and 10 every game. We are officially the franchise that has never had a true dominant center. What we do have is a dynamic set of wings that can both shoot and distribute the ball. Coach Kokosov has handed Luka the reins of his offense and Luka looks phenomenal. We are even playing .500 basketball. He was recently voted a starter to the All Star game, no doubt helped greatly by the Euro vote.

Here is where the problem seems to be rearing its ugly head. It is no secret that Devin Booker is a star in this league and it is a travesty that he has never been voted into the All Star game. This is a chip on his shoulder that has turned into a boulder. Now he sees his young Euro teammate voted in and people are calling the Suns Luka’s team. Is it surprising that Devin has ramped up his desire to force a trade away from Luka and his coach, so he can go team up with KAT and DLo somewhere else? Stay tuned Suns fans because if we lose Booker we are back to lottery town and trying to shape our team around Luka.

Sorry folks for the satire, I still think we made the right choice with Ayton, but man I wish he would figure out how to play angry every night! He has so much potential and seems to be getting better I think after they have both played 10 years we will see we did ok. My point is, even with how great Doncic looks right now, had we picked him I could easily seeing us keeping coach K and as Doncic gained popularity Booker wanting out. I would rather have an Ayton- Booker combo than Booker-Doncic and wondering if there are enough shots to go around.