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Enjoying Life Without Chris Paul, Devin Booker Thrives in New Role

Published 11/18/2023, 1:06 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

The Phoenix Suns won two games in a row after dropping back-to-back games in their schedule. Their latest win came against the Utah Jazz. A Bradley Beal-less Suns, Phoenix was able to win a closely fought battle and come out on top in the end with a final score of 131-128.

Nobody saw the Suns blow up their roster the way they did, trading away almost everyone. But now, with no Chris Paul to hold point, Devin Booker manages to outshine his predecessor in a new role.

Devin Booker outshines Chris Paul

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The Phoenix Suns were once again a little short-handed after their ‘Big Three’ was supposed to make its debut in the game against Minnesota, before this. But that did not stop the tandem of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to push the team’s overall record to 5-6.

USA Today via Reuters

Booker finished the game against the Jazz with a double-double, scoring 24 points and 15 assists. Not only was this a career-high in assists for Booker, but he finished the game with just one turnover in the 32 minutes that he played.

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Booker became the first Suns player to reach those numbers on only 1 turnover since the legendary Steve Nash.

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Steve Nash was a pioneer of the game during his time in the league. Nash went on to win back-to-back MVPs during a time when the league was dominated by players like Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan to name a few. He even finished as the runner-up for the award the next year as well. Nash could be credited with bringing the Suns back to their glory days since the Charles Barkley era in the 90s.

So, for Booker to join Nash in such a category goes on to speak volumes about his game and the new role he has adopted for the team.

The internal moves that speak to building team chemistry

The newly formed big three of the Phoenix Suns have barely played substantial minutes together. However, Devin Booker has already moved on to a new role with the arrival of Bradley Beal.

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Both Devin Booker and Bradley Beal are talented shooting guards. So, who among the two would switch positions for the other? For either Booker or Beal to switch to the small forward position would make them an undersized forward.

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So, the smart move was to move any one of them to the point guard position. At first, Beal seems to be the go-to choice, given that Booker is an inch taller than him. But instead, it was Booker who chose to switch his position to accommodate Beal.

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And after this game, it may be safe to say that the move to shift Booker to the point guard position has paid off. Hopefully, by the time Beal comes back to join Booker and Kevin Durant, these two can hold the ground for Phoenix.

If there is one thing that the league is still anticipating, it is to see these three play together in full force. 

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Written by:

Abhishek Dhariwal

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Abhishek Dhariwal is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with a background in journalism and mass communication. Abhishek uses storytelling along with feedback gathering to curate elegant and exclusive content for ES. His writing covers a wide range of topics, from in-game coverage to off-court activities of NBA stars.
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Edited by:

Mallika Singh