Devin Booker is the man in Phoenix. The sharpshooting guard is the face of the franchise, and as the Suns proceed into the future with their young core, Booker is the guy who has been tabbed to be their undisputed leader.
So it makes sense that Phoenix wants to do whatever it can to help Booker feel empowered in this role. We learned of one such way that the team will try to do this on Thursday, when it was revealed that Booker will be involved in major decisions going forward.
Scott Bordow of AZ Central wrote about the decision, and both Booker and Suns general manager Ryan McDonough both seem really excited about the arrangement.
“With his emergence and importance to not only what we’re doing in the short term but hopefully in the next decade-plus, I think it’s important to make him a partner in the process,” McDonough said.
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“I know how much the city cares about the franchise, and that means a lot to me, playing somewhere where people actually care about the franchise,” Booker said. “I love it here, I bought a house here and I intend to be here for a long time.”
Phoenix isn’t the kind of place that has superstars come through all the time, so it’s cool to see that McDonough and the rest of the decision makers within the franchise are doing what they can to make sure the face of their organization knows how important he is.
And while some might be concerned with putting this much pressure on someone who turned 21 two months ago, Booker seems like he’s excited for the challenge. Booker said that he thinks this is something that comes with being the face of the franchise, and that while it’s a role that requires a ton of responsibility, he’s ready to do the work that is required for something like this.
