Utah Jazz: 5 stars to pair with Gobert if he can’t reconcile with Mitchell

Devin Booker

I already know plenty of Jazz fans out there hate Devin Booker, but hear me out on this one.

His potential is limitless. He’s only 23 years old and already scoring prolifically. Imagine what he can do with five more years of development, and being put in a better system than the one he’s had in Phoenix.

Donovan Mitchell is great. He’s got more athleticism, and (in theory) more defense than Book. Believe me, I’d take Mitchell over the two if I had to pick today, especially given Booker’s track record of missing the playoffs.

But if I had to pick for the next 10 years, I’d be hard pressed to not pick Devin Booker. His limitless range, and smooth stroke will keep him scoring buckets at an elite level for a long time.

Another reason to be team-Booker is his size (6-foot-5) and clarity for the position he plays. He is most definitely a shooting guard. As for Mitchell, he is a little small to defend most shooting guards, and he doesn’t have the court vision (yet) to be a full time point guard.

Admittedly, this doesn’t make any sense for the Phoenix Suns to pull the trigger on this deal. They have Ricky Rubio, and they’ve already witnessed the problems that arise from a Mitchell/Rubio backcourt, AKA lack of shooting.

But when a star player exerts his power to ask for and eventually demand a trade, there’s only so much a small market franchise can do.

The Suns haven’t shown Devin Booker any signs they can be a winning franchise, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ask out in the next couple of years. The Utah Jazz need to show some interest if/when that happens.