Devin Booker's Possible Regression Isn’t Concern for Phoenix Suns

The 2026-27 season is right around the corner for the Phoenix Suns .

Phoenix is just one month away from tipping the regular season off with a road game against the Portland Trail Blazers .

While internal expectations and hopes from the fans are quite lofty, the outside world doesn't seem to be showing the team quite the same amount of love.

Part of this ensemble is Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports, who ranks the Suns as the 20th best team in the NBA heading into training camp.

The 15-20 range seems to be a customary placing for Phoenix at the moment, but O'Connor's concern is perhaps the most jarring part of the evaluation of the Suns.

"Can Booker get back to superstar form?"

There's little doubt that franchise star Devin Booker has experienced a slight downtick in scoring volume and efficiency as of late.

Even if Booker isn't a top-five level scorer any longer - or hasn't reached the heights that the 2023 postseason run demonstrated he can reach - he is still one of the best players in the league.

The 6'5" shooting guard is still evolving as a playmaker, is still one of the craftiest scorers in the entire league, and presents gravity that creates advantages for rising stars such as Collin Gillespie .

Is Booker a perfect player? Absolutely not. However, it feels trivial to question his ability to lead a team in 2026, especially after the five-time All-Star led Phoenix to a playoff appearance in a season that multiple co-stars missed extensive time due to injury. The question shouldn't be framed around Booker's decline, it should be as to whether the Kentucky product has an ability to become a ceiling raiser yet again.

Phoenix has several other concerns that are much more pressing than Booker. Among these concerns are the uncertain center rotation with the absence of Mark Williams . There is also the question if the Suns will be able to capture the exceptional three-point shooting magic they did in 2025-26. Beyond this, the fit of incoming forward Miles Bridges and guard Luke Kennard is one that will test head coach Jordan Ott.

Even if one wants to state that Booker is regressing, this is far from the most substantial concern at the moment for the Suns' organization. This will become apparent very early in the season for those that are skeptical about this conversation.