Kentucky's Devin Booker fits a Suns need, NBA trend for 3-point shooting
Outside Memphis' "Grindhouse" and Phil Jackson's Twitter account, the NBA has embraced the 3-point line nearly as much as its bottom line.
The NBA Finals teams, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, lead the postseason in 3-point attempts. Two conference finalists took the most 3s during the season (Houston and Cleveland) while the other two made the highest percentage of 3s (Golden State and Atlanta).
The priority on shooting is undeniable, from the spacing it creates for an offense to the analytics value of 3s over mid-range shots. The Suns started this 3-point renaissance 10 years ago but now could use a shooting prospect such as Kentucky's Devin Booker when they pick 13th in the June 25 draft.
With the NBA's worst 3-point-shooting clip after the All-Star break, the Suns will address the issue in free agency and/or the draft. Even the Suns' "best player available" draft approach could land on Booker, who would give them an all-Kentucky backcourt with Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and Archie Goodwin.
Booker made Phoenix his first NBA team visit on Monday, following up an interview with Suns brass at May's draft combine. Booker, 18, is the draft's youngest player and did not start at Kentucky, but being the draft's best shooter put the 6-foot-6 guard in top-15 range.
Booker averaged 10.0 points and 21.5 minutes per game with 41 percent 3-point shooting but looks to be more than a pure shooter.
"He made some plays out of the pick-and-roll," Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said. "When you shoot the ball as well as he does or potentially could, you're able to lift some guys and up-fake and use the ball fake to make plays or create space for your shot. Defensively, he's pretty solid. He's still got a little ways to go there. He's young. He's 18 years old. Physically, he's able to do it. He's strong enough. He's tall enough. He's long enough."
Since a 38-1 season, Booker quieted concerns about his speed by posting the combine's fastest lane-agility and shuttle-run times. On Monday, he outraced his workout group with 27 court lengths in the three-minute run that ends Suns workouts.
Booker said the misperception about his athleticism came out of his approach to play simply.
"People get caught up in trying to do things they don't do," Booker said. "I'm not one of those types. I keep it simple and take what the defense gives me."
Defenses should not give him a shot, given his naturally soft touch and ideal mechanics. Those were groomed by his father, Melvin, the 1994 Big Eight Player of the Year for Missouri.
Melvin Booker ended a European pro career early and convinced Devin and Devin's mother to join him in Mississippi, where he was his high school alma mater's assistant coach.
"When I moved to Mississippi, I was playing at a high school without a lot of talent around me," Devin Booker said. "I figured out that I'm not going to be able to get to the bucket a lot any more. I had to take a lot of shots. A lot of time in the gym. I stayed consistent with my work and it became second nature for me. Once people put that title on me that I was one of the better shooters, I wanted to be the best shooter."
Monday's draft workout included other prospects for the second round, at best: Tennessee guard Josh Richardson, Maryland guard Dez Wells, Mississippi guard Jarvis Summers, Texas-El Paso forward Vince Hunter and Wyoming forward Derek Cooke Jr.
Richardson is a lanky, 6-6 off-guard who is only a 21-year-old senior and has diversified his game by playing point guard to address a Volunteers void last season.
"He's a guy we haven't heard a whole lot about, buzz nationally, but he was impressive and quietly had a really good career, especially this year," McDonough said.
Bledsoe's back
When Bledsoe talked about spending more time in Phoenix this offseason, a return for the customary post-Labor Day pickup games would have been a welcome sight, given that he was not seen in Phoenix last summer until the week before training camp.
Bledsoe was at US Airways Center on Monday and said he would spend the offseason in Phoenix, where P.J. Tucker, Alex Len, Danny Granger and a stronger-looking Goodwin also have worked out lately.
"Not only is it good to see them and interact with them and see how they're doing, kind of away from the pressure and stress of the season, but it's also good for the draft guys to see them," McDonough said. "Those guys are here. They could be on the beach or on vacation somewhere in the summer but they're in the gym working. They have an interest in the players we're working out and it creates a great environment. It makes the workouts more competitive. It gives the guys a little extra juice to look over and see guys sitting on the sidelines who could be their teammates next year."
The Heat Index can be reached at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him on Twitter @paulcoro.