NBA.com Previews the Suns’ 2016-17 Season
The Phoenix Suns on Monday exercised their 2017-18 options on guard Devin Booker and forward T.J. Warren.
Booker ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring this preseason, averaging 19.6 points in five appearances, including a 34-point performance at Portland on Oct. 7. An NBA All-Rookie First Team selection in 2015-16, Booker ranked fourth among rookies with a scoring average of 13.8 points in 76 games, averaging 18.5 points over the season’s final 44 games after permanently joining the starting lineup on Jan. 8. By eclipsing 1,000 career points at an age of 19 years, 162 days old on April 9 of last season, he became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to score 1,000 points with only LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant doing so younger.
Warren started all six of the Suns’ preseason games, averaging 12.5 points on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 4.2 rebounds. In his second season with the Suns in 2015-16, Warren averaged career bests of 11.0 points and 3.1 rebounds through 47 games before a right foot fracture caused him to miss the season’s final 34 contests. By shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from behind the three-point arc last season, he was one of only three players in the league, along with Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard, to shoot at least 50 percent on field goals and 40 percent on three-pointers among those who made at least 25 threes.
The Suns tip-off the 2016-17 regular season against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Tickets are still available here or by calling 602-379-SUNS.