Tag: Devin Booker

Bradley Beal’s back injury with the Suns is exactly why stacking stars in today’s NBA doesn’t work

The Suns might be in quite a bit of trouble here. Yikes.

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes. 

It’s hard to ever say a team that employs Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on it is cooked. But every single day the Suns edge closer and closer to that point.

Just a few days ago we thought the Suns were primed to finally debut the new big 3 of Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal. On Wednesday they were all set to play together for the first time with everyone healthy in the lineup.

But then Bradley Beal’s back flared up. Again. He couldn’t play. To this point, he’s only played in three of the Suns’ 11 games and he’s about to miss a whole lot more.

Fast forward to today and, now, The Athletic’s Shams Charania’s latest report makes things seem much worse than they initially sounded. Beal is out in Phoenix again with what the team is calling a back strain. He’ll reportedly be re-evaluated in three weeks.

That’s not a good sign. There’s no guarantee he’ll be back after these three weeks. It’s just a wait-and-see approach. Meanwhile, the Suns are floundering in a tough Western Conference.

Phoenix sacrificed its depth for a third star when it made the Kevin Durant trade last season. Phoenix followed that up in the summer by acquiring Beal from the Wizards for the few remaining draft assets it had in its cupboard over the summer.

With those two moves Phoenix made a big bet on its star talent. The Suns no longer had depth, but so what? With so much talent between its stars they’d be fine if they could just stay healthy.

Fast forward to today and Kevin Durant is the only one out of the three who hasn’t missed a game. Booker has been in and out of the lineup. Beal has essentially been completely absent and there’s no telling when he’ll be back.

The worst part is there’s no way for Phoenix to get any help in the meantime. The team’s assets are gone. The depth they have isn’t working. But what they’re working with now is what they’ll have to work within the immediate future. The Suns must make do with that.

Phoenix’s gamble was always a risky one. None of Phoenix’s three stars have the best track record when it comes to health. Beal, in particular, hasn’t played more than 60 games in a season since 2021. It doesn’t seem like that’s changing this year.

The Phoneix Suns are the latest cautionary tale on stockpiling star players. Having stars is great. But when you sacrifice the rest of your team to have more stars than everyone else, you’d better make sure they’re reliable.

The NBA’s upside-down West

Speaking of the Suns and their middling record, Phoenix isn’t the only “contender” in the West looking up at everyone else.

If you look at the West right now, the top six only have a couple of teams everyone expected to be in the mix — the Nuggets and the Kings. The rest? Man. If you’d told me the Warriors, Lakers and Suns were all looking play-in-bound bound I probably would’ve laughed at you.

Don’t even get me started on the Clippers. Yikes.

RELATED: Russell Westbrook is going to the bench because James Harden can’t change his game

It’s still early, obviously. But for the bottom of the West to look the way it does is jarring. The Lakers, Warriors, Suns and Clippers all had win total over/unders between 45.5 and 52.5 wins. The under is looking possible for all four of them today.

It looks like this could be the end of an era for some of the NBA’s most legendary veterans. We’ll see.

Throw it in the Louvre

Here’s the jump ball between Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama from earlier this week on Tuesday. No, I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

(Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)

I don’t know if this is what Dr. James Naismith envisioned when he first started throwing balls into peach baskets.

This has got to be the most gigantic jump ball in NBA history. It’s a Kaiju flick on an NBA court. And we get to watch this for the next 15 years or whatever.

Basketball gods, I cannot thank you enough. But I will do my best. Thank you.

READ MORE: Victor Wembanyama has a slight ROY lead on Chet Holmgren but it’s so close

Shootaround

— Draymond Green got the longest suspension of his career for choking Rudy Gobert. Shocking, I know! Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Caitlin Clark needs some help in Iowa. It’s time for her teammates to step up. Meghan Hall has more.

— Here’s Mitchell Northam on Raven Johnson’s revenge season in South Carolina. Dishing out 17 dimes is WILD.

— This NSFW but really not NSFW introduction for Gradey Dick’s first start was the best

That’s all, folks! Enjoy the in-season tournament games tonight! We’ve got NBA power rankings coming on Monday. Can’t wait. Til then, peace. We out.

-Sykes ✌️

Chicago Bulls Injury Report vs. Suns: Alex Caruso, Patrick Williams both probable; Bradley Beal questionable; Devin Booker out

Check out the injury report for the Chicago Bulls ahead of their contest vs. the Phoenix Suns.

The Chicago Bulls will take on the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. Lonzo Ball is obviously still on the injury report, but a few of his teammates will join him on the list. Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams are both PROBABLE to play, while all three of Chicago’s two-way players – Onrulap Bitim, Justin Lewis, and Adama Sanogo – will be unavailable as they are with the G League.

Caruso is currently dealing with a right elbow sprain, while Williams is recovering from a left finger sprain. Both players appeared in the Bulls’ last game against the San Antonio Spurs, and they were both listed on the injury report ahead of that game as well.

Meanwhile, the Suns are dealing with some injuries as well. Devin Booker remains OUT for the game against the Bulls. However, Bradley Beal has been upgraded to QUESTIONABLE ahead of the contest.

Beal has yet to appear in a game for the Suns this year after joining the team via trade this offseason.

Booker is currently recovering from a right calf strain, and Beal is dealing with lower back spasms.

Should Beal make his return against the Bulls, it would be a major test for a Chicago team looking to build off their latest win. After getting blown out by the Denver Nuggets, the Bulls destroyed the Utah Jazz on Monday, and they will undoubtedly be hoping to keep up the momentum they gained.

With Booker out for Phoenix, the Bulls should look to take advantage of the opportunity.

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Devin Booker breaks down plans to stop Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama

After the his dominant performance in the San Antonio Spurs win over the Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker spoke about Victor Wembanyama.

On Thursday night, the San Antonio Spurs took down the Phoenix Suns for the second game in a row. In the first win, the Spurs pulled off a miracle at the very end, but in this one, they jumped out to an early lead. Phoenix battled back and made it a game at the end, but San Antonio held on.

Victor Wembanyama was a big reason why the Spurs hung on to win. He put up 38 points and 10 rebounds in the contest, including a late-game surge to keep the Spurs on top. The Suns simply did not have an answer for the 19-year-old rookie.

After the game, Suns star Devin Booker discussed what the plan had to be to try to stop Wembanyama, noting that he’s unlike anything anyone has ever seen before.

Report: Bradley Beal unavailable for Thursday vs. Spurs, Devin Booker unknown

Ahead of the San Antonio Spurs game against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, updates on Devin Booker and Bradley Beal have surfaced.

Phoenix Suns star Bradley Beal will not be available for Thursday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. A report from Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports revealed that the new Suns, who has yet to make his debut, will be out, along with Damion Lee. That said, there is hope that his co-star could make an appearance.

Bourguet also noted that the Suns upgraded Devin Booker’s status to questionable. He missed Phoenix’s game on Wednesday against the Spurs, which they ended up losing by one point in the final moments of the contest. Booker has not played since the Suns’ season opener.

After the Suns’ loss on Wednesday, head coach Frank Vogel was unclear as to when the two stars would be back.

Devin Booker puts LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in his all-time starting five

Suns star Devin Booker made it clear how much he admires LeBron James and, in particular, Kobe Bryant.

Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns is not only a bona fide All-Star caliber player — he’s one of the game’s deadliest one-on-one players, and he is considered by many to be the NBA’s best shooting guard these days.

With Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal by his side this season, he may have his best shot yet at winning his first championship ring.

Los Angeles Lakers fans may dislike Booker because of his game and the default expression on his face, which they believe suggests he is chippy and looking for trouble. But they should feel heartened when they hear his all-time starting five, which includes LeBron James and Kobe Bryant (h/t Lakers Daily).

“No disrespect to anybody — probably go Bron, K.D. (Kevin Durant), Kobe, (Michael) Jordan, (Hakeem) Olajuwon,” he said.

Booker has shown his admiration for Bryant in the past. In fact, he considers the late Lakers legend something of an idol and mentor, and he even got a tattoo on his forearm with the words “be legendary,” which was the advice Bryant once gave him in 2016.

Bryant’s former team will face Booker’s Suns in Arizona on Nov. 10 in the first game of the NBA’s in-season tournament. When the Lakers defeated Phoenix on Thursday, Booker didn’t play because of a foot injury.

Bradley Beal and Devin Booker won’t play for Suns against Lakers on Thursday

The Suns will be very shorthanded when they play the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their regular-season opener on Tuesday at the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets, and they look to get their first win of the 2023-24 campaign on Thursday when they host the Phoenix Suns.

It will be a marquee matchup. LeBron James will go head-to-head against Kevin Durant in a regular season game for the first time since Christmas Day 2018.

Over the last several months, the Suns have assembled a collection of stars by making multiple trades. Durant arrived in February, and over the summer, they traded for three-time All-Star guard Bradley Beal. Both will join Devin Booker, who is also a three-time All-Star.

However, neither Beal nor Booker will play on Thursday against the Purple and Gold.

With Phoenix shorthanded, this will be an excellent opportunity for the Lakers to not only win but to win by a wide margin and start to prove that they could end up winning the world title this season.

Devin Booker with a camcorder at the Diamondbacks playoff game became an instant meme

Yes, a camcorder. What year is this?!

No, this isn’t a photo or video from 1995 or so.

It’s footage of Phoenix Suns superstar Devin Booker taking in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ NLCS Game 4 as they faced the Philadelphia Phillies. For some reason — and I can’t wait to find out why — he brought along an old school-looking camcorder and was filmed … well, filming.

In case you’re young and reading this: The camcorder was what we all used to film stuff before there were cell phone cameras. Goodness, I feel old writing that.

Anyway, it was perfect fodder for a meme, and the internet didn’t disappoint. Here’s a roundup of all the jokes made on Friday:

Projecting the roster for a LeBron James, Joel Embiid-led Team USA at the 2024 Olympics in Paris

This 12-man roster looks TOUGH to beat.

After failing to medal during the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Team USA could bring a squad of superstars (including LeBron James) to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

According to Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, despite a fourth-place finish in the Philipines, the future could be brighter for Team USA next year. The two insiders reported that LeBron James is “ready to commit” for next summer and is recruiting various other top players from around the league to join him.

Based on the reporting we have seen so far, these are the other stars who could potentially team up with James in Paris when the Olympics begin in July 2024.

Of course, lots can change between now and then. But in a perfect world, the 12-man roster would likely look a bit like this:

Other notable NBA players to express interest: Jrue Holiday, Kawhi Leonard, DeMar DeRozan, Bradley Beal, Jaylen Brown, Donovan Mitchell, Khris Middleton, Julius Randle, Zach LaVine, Aaron Gordon, Fred VanVleet and Brook Lopez

Ranking the NBA’s 10 best star trios (now including Dame, Giannis and Middleton)

Can anyone compete with the defending champs?

You need a lot of star power on your roster in order to win a championship in the NBA and several teams just added significant talent.

As the offseason ended, the Bucks traded for Damian Lillard while the Celtics added Jrue Holiday. Earlier this offseason, meanwhile, the Suns added Bradley Beal to a lineup that already had Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. But how do these revamped contenders stack up with the league’s top three-man lineups?

Many publications have ranked the best duos in the NBA — which you can read here, here, here or here. But we wanted to look at the best star trios in the league right now. Here is what we concluded:

Note: Net rating is how many points per 100 possession each team has outscored opponents when these three players are on the court at the same time.

Here is the projected starting lineup for the Suns after trading Deandre Ayton

This team can compete with anyone.

The Phoenix Suns made two of the biggest trades of the past season, impressively acquiring Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

These blockbuster moves immediately changed the landscape of the Western Conference. Beal is a three-time NBA All-Star who joins Durant (13-time NBA All-Star) and Booker (three-time All-Star).

Former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, meanwhile, was moved to Portland as part of a Damian Lillard trade to help land some depth in Phoenix.

Phoenix also made savvy moves by picking up strong role players like Yuta Watanabe, Drew Eubanks and Keita Bates-Diop. Based on our projections, here is how the starters will look in Phoenix:

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