Devin Booker has received high praise this offseason from Kevin Durant giving him a shout-out to NBA 2K18 listing him as the seventh best shooting guard in the league. The praise does not stop there as Sekou Smith from NBA.com labeled Booker one of three players poised for Western Conference stardom in 2017-18.
“There isn’t a more explosive perimeter scoring threat his age (20) in the league,” Smith wrote.
Last season Booker became the youngest player to ever score 70 points in a game and is currently the only active player to do so. He jumped from 13.8 points per game his rookie season to 22.1 ppg. last year.
“If he makes the same sort of improvement that he made from his rookie season to his second year, we’re talking about a player who could easily get into the mix for a scoring title this season,” Smith wrote.
This isn’t a far stretch as Booker finished last season with the third-highest scoring average in a season that ends while the player is younger than 21. The other two: LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
The 20-year-old showed he can get hot in a hurry as last season he led the league with three quarters of scoring at least 27 points. The rest of the NBA combined for only two such quarters (Kevin Love, Isaiah Thomas). The scoring streaks he produces, don't go unnoticed.
“Booker is the closest thing to a Splash Brother not named Curry or Thompson,” Smith wrote.
Booker gears up for the upcoming season as him, Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic are listed as the three players poised for Western Conference stardom.