NBA Rumors: Suns’ Devin Booker being linked to New York Knicks

Changes are likely coming to the Phoenix Suns after the team’s playoff flameout at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves. What those changes are, and whether they go beyond the coaching staff, remains to be seen. But it wasn’t a pretty postseason for the Suns’ superstar trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

Durant, one of the best scorers in NBA history, and Booker, one of the league’s best and most versatile offensive talents, were outplayed and outshined by 22-year-old Anthony Edwards. Minnesota’s rising star outscored both Durant and Booker in the series, averaging 31.0 points during his team’s four-game sweep of the Suns.

It was a coming-out party for Edwards and perhaps a fading-out funeral for Phoenix.

The Suns will likely blow past the second luxury tax apron in 2024-25 without many moves to make to improve the roster. Perhaps their stars see the writing on the wall: The team is too top-heavy to compete for a championship in the Western Conference. Or, if some reports are to be believed, at least one Phoenix star may see said writing and is ready to move on this summer.

Devin Booker ‘wants to be in New York’ amid trade rumors

There are conflicting reports about Booker’s desire to move on from the Suns. It’s the only franchise the 27-year-old has ever known. He was the main piece of the 2021 team that reached the NBA Finals and had a 2-0 lead before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.

But after so much went wrong in Phoenix this season, Booker could be ready to at least gaze at potentially greener pastures, according to sources that include ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith (h/t Bleacher Report):

Booker wants to be in New York. That’s what I’m being told. Now, he might deny it, I haven’t spoken to him. I’m just telling you the scuttlebutt in the NBA circles is that the brother wanna be in New York.

Durant is owed $103 million over the next two seasons. Beal’s contract is similar. Booker is locked in for four years and $221 million. Add Grayson Allen’s four-year, $70 million extension and the nearly $40 million still owed to Jusuf Nurkic and you have to wonder what the ceiling is for this version of the Suns.

It seems unlikely that Booker will be traded this offseason, but this is the NBA. Stranger things have happened. It seemed unlikely Durant was going to land in Phoenix before he was dealt at the 2023 trade deadline.

It will be an interesting summer for the Suns organization.

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