“Devin, with his work ethic and commitment to excellence, has established himself as one of the league’s best players, elevating himself and our organization,” said Suns GM James Jones in a statement after the team’s star player signed his contract extension back in 2022. The same words hold true even today. With players heading to other teams in pursuit of a championship, including Kevin Durant, who moved to the Rockets, Devin Booker has committed his future to the team that drafted him back in 2015. For his loyalty, the Suns also awarded him an extension even before his current contract was up.

Booker recently took to his official X (formerly Twitter) account and gave a subtle hint of the extension, retweeting his tweet from 2015 when he joined Phoenix: “Excited to say that I just touched down in Phoenix. Let’s get to work. @Suns”, Captioning it with a “Letsgo”. This news will be music to the ears of Phoenix fans after the mass exodus of stars that was undertaken to balance the books.

The Phoenix Suns gave Devin Booker a historic 2-year, $145 million maximum contract extension. ESPN’s Shams Charania first broke the news, along with the fact that this recent contract is the highest annual extension salary in NBA history. According to Forbes, the extension also provides the highest per-year rate across all of the major North American sports leagues. However, Booker is still playing under his 4-year, $220.44 million contract that he signed back in July 2022. Therefore, his extension won’t go into effect until the 2028-29 season. Even then, no matter how high the salary cap goes and gives teams the liberty to provide bigger extension deals, Booker might remain in the list of the Top 10 highest-paid Active NBA players.

It is no secret that the Phoenix Suns have been struggling. The team reached only the 1st round of the playoffs back in 2023-24, and their 36-46 win record in the 2024-25 regular season prevented them from even making it to the playoffs. This was enough to make Kevin Durant seek his luck elsewhere. Therefore, the Suns were committed to making Devin Booker their franchise cornerstone a long time ago. Fans might remember how, back in mid-March, team governor Mat Ishbia told ESPN’s Tim Macmahon that a trade involving Booker would “never happen” and called the premise “silly”. He further added to those words by saying, “Here’s what I’ll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player.”

Therefore, no matter how much of the roster would be changed, Devin Booker isn’t going anywhere. The collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the players states that a contract covering a term of five or six seasons (including option years) can’t be extended until the third anniversary of the signing of the contract. It can only be extended up to five years out from the date of the new deal’s signing.

Therefore, to keep Booker happy, he is being given as much money as the team is allowed to give him, as soon as they are allowed to give it to him. In time, Booker will have an average annual salary higher than any NFL player. Yet.

For many, this was the right move for the Phoenix Suns to lock down their star player. However, we can say with certainty that John Hollinger will not be among the people pleased with the Phoenix Suns’ recent decision.

‘The Athletic’s John Hollinger called out Suns’ premature need to lock Devin Booker: “wondering what the hurry is”

With Kevin Durant out of the Suns and Bradley Beal negotiating a contract buyout, the need was for some flexibility, relief, and direction. Devin Booker was eligible to sign a two-year extension, keeping him in Phoenix through the 2029-2030 season, by 8th July. However, that didn’t necessarily mean that the player had to be given a deal right then and there.

This was the belief ‘The Athletic’s John Hollinger highlighted in his report covering the veteran-extension situations of several players. When the discussion came to Devin Booker, the reporter wrote, “It seems like the Suns are bullish on going ahead with this, and in their current position, I’m wondering what the hurry is. Booker is signed for three more seasons with no options, so he’s not a flight risk. The bigger issue, however, is that the Suns need to have a reality-based view of their situation, which is … not promising. At some point, this reality likely involves trading Booker to rebuild their depleted asset stash, as they try to avoid the downside consequences of their impulsive foolishness since Mat Ishbia took over”.

Hollinger further claimed that the Suns shouldn’t be providing the speculated 2-year, $150 million extension unless they can get a significant haircut from the max. After all, the Suns ranked 4th with a salary cap allocation of $245.3 million for the 2024-25 season, thereby costing them more penalties due to crossing the Luxury Tax and Apron limits. Being financially stable was the need of the hour.

Unfortunately, the Phoenix Suns didn’t heed the advice much. While they didn’t give a $150 million worth extension, $140 million was still too much to promise this early. Nevertheless, the front office has now made a decision. Hopefully, it motivates Booker to give his best in the upcoming season.