Rumour: The New York Knicks Are Interested In Trading For Devin Booker. Will Devin Booker Be The Saviour?
On July 5th, 2020, Michael Kaskey-Blomain of CBC sports published an article suggesting that the New York Knicks may be interested in acclaiming Sun’s All-Star, Devin Booker. With the Phoenix Suns having a great young core to work with, the only thing that the Sun’s need is time, development and veteran players. However, if the organization fails to construct a suitable team for winning, Devin Booker will request a trade. In the last 15 seasons, the Phoenix Suns have been one of the most irrelevant teams as they continuously fail to construct a team suitable enough to make the NBA playoffs. Every NBA player wants an opportunity to win a championship or have the experience of touching the playoffs. Part of being an NBA player has the chance to win, and for the Phoenix Suns, they are far from even being a .500 team in the Western Conference. To make matters worse, the organization that is rumoured to pursue Devin Booker is the New York Knicks, another team that has failed to construct a winning organization with an ounce of competence. However, here is why the Knicks should not pursue Devin Booker as it makes little to no sense in trading for a player like Booker.
1. RJ Barrett
Even though Barrett had a rather underwhelming rookie season, his career just started. With him having one of the most exceptional high school careers in basketball history, his ceiling is easily a Hall of Famer if the Knicks can develop him well enough and construct a team that complements his game. From his explosiveness inside the paint to his above-average jump shot, Barrett has the tools to become one of the best players in the NBA or go down a path similar to that of Andrew Wiggins. If the Knicks trade for Booker, RJ Barrett would have to be in that trade package, which isn’t worth it considering what direction the Knicks will most likely pursue. Devin Booker isn’t and should never be the first option to a championship team and instead should be a second to third option similar to the role of Klay Thompson. Even though Booker is much more than just a three-point shooter, he cannot be the first option; hence, the only teams that should pursue Booker are a team that already has a reliable first option. The Knicks have a young roster and a focal point to build around in RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson. The NBA has yet to see what these two players can develop to be. However, for Booker, he has already shown everything he can do on the court. The only surprise that he can bring to a basketball court is elevating his defensive abilities!
2. Overpaying For Devin Booker
As mentioned before, in order or the New York Knicks to trade for Devin Booker, they would have to attach RJ Barrett into the trade, which isn’t worth it given the trajectory Barrett has in the NBA. Not to mention, players such as Mitchell Robinson, Kevin Knox, and Julius Randle would have to be in the conversation for this trade to occur, and that’s before even mentioning draft picks! If the Knicks trade for Booker, they would essentially have to trade away their entire young core of Barrett and Mitchell to simply entice the Suns to make such a trade if the Knicks want to keep most of their draft picks. The Phoenix Suns would obviously never make a trade of Mitchell and Barrett simply because they already have a bright young center in Deandre Ayton. After Mitchell, the next best option is Kevin Knox, which entails that the New York Knicks would have to overpay to attain Devin Booker, which is not worth it. Even though they would have a young star locked up for more than three seasons, constructing a team around Booker would be challenging for the New York Knicks considering how poor their reputation is around the NBA. Imagine having two max slots to potentially sign top tier players but instead have Julius Randle being your best free-agent signing. That is rough!
3. Setting Booker Up For Failure
In the 2015 NBA draft, the Phoenix Suns selected one of the biggest steals in recent history. With Booker being named an all-star this season, the 23-year old has plenty of more All-Star selections and will possibly go down as a top 25 scorer of all time depending on how long he plays in the NBA. With Booker being drafted at 18 years old and already having 5000+ points in his career, he has the opportunity to stamp himself as one of the greatest shooters this game has ever seen! However, for Booker to accomplish this, he needs to represent a competent team with a winning identity. If this were the 70’s Booker on the Knicks, it would be an obvious choice; however, in the modern era, the Knicks are easily the most incompetent team in possibly all sports! If the Phoenix Suns decide on trading Booker and want to see him strive with an organization, the New York Knicks should be the last team that they should consider. The Suns were a decent team on paper this season, and yet they still struggled. Imagine how much Booker would suffer if he had to play for the New York Knicks!
Although the Knicks have a rich history in sports and have one of the most passionate fan bases, the front office currently disrespects their committed fanbase while shaming their history. From Walt Frazier to Patrick Ewing, the Knicks was an organization that most kids would dream of representing as they were the mecca of basketball for the longest time. Even though they are ranked number one as the most valuable team in the NBA, it appears that the Knicks take advantage of such a title and instead do foolish acts like dropping Alonzo Trier! At one point, New York was a team everyone wanted to represent as almost any NBA player will say that their favourite place to play in Madison Square Garden. The only reason why the Knicks exist today is because of how vibrant their history is in the sports world. Devin Booker on the Knicks would be something spectacular if the front office knew what they were doing. As far as the Phoenix Suns, it is way too early even to consider trading Devin Booker!