Mo Mooncey: Devin Booker taking next step is key to Phoenix Suns winning NBA title | NBA News

Sky Sports Heatcheck pundit Mo Mooncey thinks that for all the Phoenix Suns’ consistency and depth, Devin Booker taking the next step will be pivotal for their title chances.

Booker is scoring at a 25.4-points-per-game clip right now, which is above his career average but lower than the past three seasons. Although the development of his playmaking could be a factor, the numbers are still strong.

But is he someone, in a clutch situation deep in the playoffs, who you would turn to to help lead your team? Probably not yet – and that is where he has to show he is ready to step up.

In Game 6 of last season’s NBA Finals, Booker played 46 minutes but did not get above 19 points – and he is the team’s main scorer. Chris Paul had 26, even though he is more a facilitator by trade, and ended up trying to do things that were not his forte because of Booker’s struggles.

In that ultimately decisive game, Booker shot 8-of-22 from the field including going 0-for-7 from three-point range. He also committed six turnovers and went -15 over those heavy minutes.

It is not what you need from the man you are looking to, to ultimately send you over the top.

And for Sky Sports Heatcheck pundit Mooncey, that is the difference between Booker and the very best players in the NBA. To win a title, you need to have at least one of those types of scorers on your team.

“In order for them to win the NBA championship, Devin Booker needs to make the leap from the star player that he is now to a super, superstar,” said Mooncey. “If we look at all the recent championships, the one thing every championship team has in common, with only a few exceptions, is they will have a top player on the team: LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant.

“Even if we go back through the [decades] you’re talking about [the likes of] Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade. Or even all the way back through the ’90s, you have Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.

“When it’s a close game and in big-time pressure situations, the ball finds itself in the hands of the best player, and the best player will lead their team to win. So when you make a list of the top-five players in the NBA right now, as great as Chris Paul and Devin Booker are, I don’t have them as top five players in the NBA, whereas a Giannis Antetokounmpo, you saw what he did in that Game 6 of the NBA finals last year, where he just dominated completely and put up a 50-piece, crushed them.

“So I’m going to need to see Devin Booker taking a step up.”

The Suns are an outstanding team, though, having gone 41-9 for the season so far.

Most pundits agree, including Mooncey and former NBA champion BJ Armstrong who joins him on the Heatcheck panel, that they are the best team in the NBA right now. What matters, though, is being good when it really matters.

Teams have won a ring without one of the league’s elite stars in the past, but it is a tough ask and given the talent on some of the other rosters around the NBA right now, not one Mooncey thinks is possible.

He said: “The only team that really won by committee and not having that top guy is the ’04 Pistons – but they had some of the greatest defensive players of all time; the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons (who won titles in 1989 and 1990) who had all-time Hall of Fame players in their squad. Maybe the ’14 Spurs, but they had an older Tim Duncan and they had a younger Kawhi Leonard, so I don’t even think they count.

“Winning by committee is tough, not to say that it’s impossible to do – but the reason why I bring this up is if one of their top four guys gets injured – Booker, CP, Mikal Bridges, or Deandre Ayton – if one of those four gets injured, it’s going to hurt their team a lot more than, let’s say, the Milwaukee Bucks.

“If their fourth best player was to get injured, it wouldn’t hurt them as much, because they’ve got a top-five talent in Giannis Antetokounmpo, or if one of the Sixers’ starters got injured, as long as it’s not Embiid, they’re still going to feel pretty confident.”

What other move could Suns make?

Other than Booker making the leap, the Phoenix Suns’ front office which has impressed Mooncey, does have some other paths it could maybe take to help strengthen their roster at the top.

Mooncey added: “I’m looking at the Phoenix Suns: they’ve got some money on their books that they can move – Dario Saric is out for the season, they can move his salary – and they’ve got some future first-round picks [so] I’m looking for them to make a move to add one more piece to the team, maybe a veteran player because I think guys like Cam Payne haven’t been quite as good as they were last season.

“If they can add maybe an Eric Gordon out of Houston or a player of that calibre to come in and join the squad then they’re looking even more scary.

“If the playoffs started today, I’ve got the Phoenix Suns winning it, but I just worry about them. You know, if Devin Booker, doesn’t make that leap, then you might just see Giannis, or whoever they face off against the finals, dominating again.”