Devin Booker Fantasy News and Statistics

The University of Kentucky has become a basketball factory under John Calipari, but not even the biggest Wildcats fans saw Devin Booker becoming this good this soon. Everyone knew he could shoot, but he has surpassed expectations as a scorer and still isn’t even of legal drinking age. Booker is younger than more than half of the players taken in the 2017 NBA Draft, and the Phoenix Suns view him as their franchise player. That honor is usually not bestowed for players drafted No. 13 overall, but this type of talent is usually not seen for players this young.

The son of former NBA player Melvin Booker, he grew up in Michigan with his mother while his father played across the globe. When his dad retired, Booker moved to Mississippi and enrolled at Moss Point High School, where his father was a coach. The first time Calipari saw Booker play in person as a junior, he offered him a scholarship. Booker then committed to Kentucky as a senior. Despite being the top-ranked player in Mississippi, he was only the fourth-best player of a stacked freshman class that joined Kentucky in 2014.

Nine different players started for Kentucky in its historic 2014-15 season, but Booker wasn’t one of them. With all of the talent at his disposal, Calipari employed a platoon system and, as a result, Booker came off the bench and averaged about 21 minutes per game. He still ranked third on the team in scoring and won the SEC Sixth Man of the Year award. The ‘Cats started 38-0 before falling to Wisconsin in the Final Four. Shortly thereafter, Booker declared for the NBA Draft alongside six of his teammates.

The Suns recognized Booker’s talent despite the small sample size. He must have felt like he was at Kentucky West, as he became the fourth former UK guard to join the team. Booker became the first player in NBA history to play in a game at 18 years old despite going to college thanks to his late October birthday. Just like at Kentucky, Booker started his season on the bench but was soon promoted to the starting lineup. As expected, his rookie season had its ups and downs but it was not without accomplishment, as he joined LeBron James as the only teenagers in NBA history to post back-to-back 30-point games.

Booker spent his first NBA offseason practicing for the Olympic select squad against Team USA, which would win gold in Rio. That seasoning paid off, as Booker’s scoring average jumped from 13.8 to 22.1 points per game. The highlight of Booker’s season may end up being the highlight of his career, as he became the sixth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game. No player as young as the 20-year-old had even scored 60 points in a matchup, and it was the most points by any player in a game in 11 years.

During the 2017 offseason, the Suns declared Booker untouchable during trade discussions for Kyrie Irving, so he is their (baby) face of the franchise. No one will question Booker’s ability to put the ball in the hoop, but now he must show that he can be a leader. That seems odd to say about a soon-to-be 21-year-old, but he is one of the most-experienced players on the Suns, who have eight players in their first or second years in the NBA. The Suns will go as Devin Booker goes, as the franchise looks to put an end to their seven-year postseason drought.