Devin Booker 'best player' on Phoenix Suns his rookie year, says former teammate Tyson Chandler
Tyson Chandler only needed to see Devin Booker play in a pickup game going into the Phoenix Suns' 2015-16 season to draw a glowing conclusion about the then-18-year-old rookie out of Kentucky.
“I remember afterwards, (former Suns general manager Ryan McDonough) was like, ‘What do you think?’ said Chandler in an interview on Showtime’s “All The Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to be honest with you. The best player you got on your roster is that kid you drafted, Devin Booker.’”
Chandler remembers the Suns being excited about guards Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, but he let McDonough know that in his opinion, Booker was the best player on the team.
“(McDonough) was like, ‘What?,’” Chandler continued. “He was like, ‘Really? What do you think about (Knight and Bledsoe)?' I was like, ‘They’re good, but I’m telling you, me, them, this roster, (Booker is) better than all of us. That’s the best player you got on this roster,’ and he was like ‘Really?’”
Booker wound up making NBA All-Rookie first team that season to start his ascent to becoming one of the NBA’s best players.
Entering his ninth NBA season, Booker is a three-time All-Star leading a championship contender.
The Suns selected Booker with the 13th overall pick in the 2015 draft. They also signed Chandler to a four-year, $52-million deal that summer.
So, Chandler admitted in the Showtime interview he was clueless about who was on the team.
“I didn’t even know the Suns roster to be honest,” he said.
Then Chandler saw Booker in pickup games that summer.
“I’m guiding him and he was able to pick up quick,” Chandler said about Booker, who was the youngest player in his draft class.
“I could tell him something once, ‘Boom!’ I told him like, ‘Come off this pindown this way, this is your looks. This is what you’re going to see,’ and he did it. Young players don’t work like that. Not like that. Instantly, I knew, this kid is special and he’s going to be special.”
Chandler revealed in the interview he signed with Phoenix to stay close to his mother, who was battling cancer. Chandler was born in Hanford, California and went to high school in Compton.
“My mom was sick,” Chandler said. “I got better offers elsewhere, but I wanted to stay close. That was the closest I could get to Los Angeles where I know I could drive to her appointments. I could get to her appointments quick.”
The Suns finished 23-59 that year as Earl Watson replaced a fired Jeff Hornacek during the season. Chandler played three full seasons in Phoenix before being bought out by the team during the 2018-19 season.
Read more: Suns unveil new home court designs for 2023-24 season
Have opinion 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 'best player' on Phoenix Suns his rookie year, says former teammate Tyson Chandler
