'Ready to go': Devin Booker set to return, 'super excited' about Phoenix Suns' Big 3 debut

Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker has had an injury-filled beginning to his ninth NBA season.

Jammed left big toe. Sprained left ankle. Right calf strain.

He’s played in just two of Phoenix’s 10 games and missed its last five due to the calf strain, but will make his return Wednesday night against red-hot Minnesota at Footprint Center.

The Suns (4-6) are 1-1 with Booker in the lineup and 3-5 without him.

“It feels good,” said Booker about the calf after Wednesday’s shootaround as he wore a black sleeve on his right leg. “Ready to go. It’s been what, two weeks, 12, 13 days. Just trying to get back. I always say rehabbing is harder than playing. You have a lot more responsibility. I just want to go out there and play.”

His return will also mark the first regular season game for Phoenix’s Big 3.

“Super excited,” Booker said. “We were out there together in the preseason. The short stints that we got together were high energy and fun. You saw the potential there.”

Kevin Durant is averaging 30 points and 36.7 minutes through 10 games. Bradley Beal has seen action in the last three games after missing the first seven with low back issues.

And Booker is now back.

“Finally get to test that against a real opponent in the regular season, a really good team too that’s playing probably their best basketball in a long time right now,” Booker continued.

The Timberwolves (8-2) have won their last seven games.

“Excited for the matchup,” Booker added.

Booker and Beal are listed a probable as is Eric Gordon, who missed Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma City with left shoulder soreness.

Beal tweaked his back in the first half versus the Thunder, but he played in the second half.

“Still trying to get his flow,” Booker said about Beal. “That’s expected. Me personally, I’ve been fortunate enough that I haven’t had really deal with back pain, but I’ve heard from many people it’s not an easy task. It’s an everyday grind. Part of the season and all you can do is keep working and hopefully he doesn’t feel it anymore.”

The Suns enter the game 10^th in the Western Conference, are 1-4 at home and coming off a 2-of-21 effort in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Booker’s return, and playing with Durant and Beal, should help address those issues, but the team isn’t panicking despite the slow start.

“I think it’s more of the fans than anything,” a smiling Booker said. “The guys understand that. We’ve all been in many situations and it’s a lot of experience here. We understand what we’re going for, what we’re shooting for.”

The Suns will play at Utah for consecutive games later this week with the first one being an NBA In-Season Tournament game Friday. Phoenix beat the Jazz, 126-104, last month at home.

How does it work? Guide for NBA's In-Season Tournament

“We also understand the importance of the regular season,” Booker continued. “It’s not just something you can just pass along and seeding for the postseason and working out the kinks during the regular season is a big part of that. You have to be able to do that while you play together, but we’re going for the long haul. We want everybody to be healthy.”

Phoenix’s Big 3 only played in the first half of two preseason games – Oct. 8 at Detroit and Oct. 16 versus Portland. The three combined for 35 points against the Pistons and 49 against the Trail Blazers.

The numbers are nice, but it’s been essentially a month since they played together in an NBA game.

“It seems so long ago, I don’t even remember,” Booker said. “Even when we were staggering minutes and only playing a quarter or two, like I said, you seen the potential there. We had a great training camp together and now it’s time to put it to the test.”

Booker entered the Oct. 24 season opener at Golden State with a jammed left big toe suffered in practice the week before.

He posted 32 points and eight assists in the 108-104 win, but Booker suffered a left ankle sprain late in the game. Booker missed Phoenix’s next three games.

Booker came back to go for 31 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds on Nov. 2 against the Spurs, but he strained his calf.

“I think it was over time,” said Booker, who played 35 minutes that included the entire fourth quarter of a 132-121 loss, about the injury.

“I was supposed to be on some type of minute restriction that game, but the game didn’t go as planned. It was high energy and we were working an uphill battle the whole second half and I stayed in most of that time.”

Booker believes he’ll be on a minute restriction Wednesday night.

“I think so, but I don’t know what that is,” Booker said. “I talked to the training staff. I trust them. I talked to (Suns coach Frank Vogel). He’s done things like this in the past. I’m going to work my way into it.”

The three-time All-Star took longer to come back from the latest injury, but his approach was different from when he returned from the ankle injury.

“Scrimmaging,” Booker said. “That’s what I didn’t do after the ankle. Getting some good bump in. We had a couple of days in between last game and this game. Shoutout to the guys that aren’t getting as many minutes right now that we got a good chance to get up and down.”

Have opinions about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Devin Booker set to return, 'super excited' about Suns' Big 3 debut