Windhorst: Devin Booker Wants to Be with Suns for ‘Whole Career’ Despite Trade Rumors

Despite the apparent turmoil surrounding the franchise currently, superstar shooting guard Devin Booker reportedly wants to remain with the Phoenix Suns moving forward.

Speaking on Friday’s episode of Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective (beginning at the 9:55 mark), ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst countered a discussion about the Suns potentially tearing things down and trading Booker during the offseason by saying that Booker wants to spend his “whole career” in Phoenix.

Unlike his teammate, Bradley Beal, Booker does not have a no-trade clause, so it is not entirely up to him if he stays with the Suns moving forward.

However, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Bobby Marks reported recently that the Suns “rebuffed” trade offers for Booker leading up to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

Windhorst said this week on ESPN’s Get Up that the Suns tried to trade Beal to “almost every team in the league” with no success. The Suns reportedly also listened to trade offers for Kevin Durant, but KD turned down an opportunity to potentially rejoin the Golden State Warriors, per ESPN’s Shams Charania and Ohm Youngmisuk.

It won’t be at all surprising if the Suns revisit Durant and Beal trades during the offseason, but Booker is the player who would clearly bring back the best return.

Booker is a 28-year-old four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection who is enjoying yet another highly productive season with 26.0 points, 6.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds. 2.6 three-pointers made and 1.1 steals per game.

He has averaged 24.9 points per game or better in each of the past eight seasons and has a career scoring average of 24.4 points per contest, making one of Booker one of the NBA’s most consistent scorers.

One team known to have interest in Booker is the Houston Rockets, as SI.com’s Chris Mannix reported this week that Booker was the only player they had interest in at the deadline.

The Rockets are a young team who are ahead of schedule in their rebuild, as they are currently fourth in the Western Conference with a 32-19 record.

Depending on how the rest of this season plays out, it is easy to envision the Rockets going all out in an effort to acquire Booker during the offseason, especially considering the amount of draft capital they can offer.

Booker’s fate will ultimately depend on how the Suns want to proceed and whether they want to start from scratch.

Phoenix could either keep the roster together or try to sell off Durant and Beal, while building around Booker.

The most drastic move would be to trade the entirety of their Big 3, which would almost certainly mean a lengthy rebuild and a spell at the bottom of the league.

As much as Booker reportedly wants to remain in Phoenix, it is fair to wonder if he would change his tune if it meant going to a contender rather than wasting some of his remaining prime years with a team that has no chance to contend for a championship.