NBA
Suns’ Devin Booker Will Undergo Hand Surgery Out, Indefinitely
The Phoenix Suns’ guard, Devin Booker will be out indefinitely as he is set to undergo surgery on Monday, reported Adrian Wojnarowski.
John Gambadoro from 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports stated that Booker will travel to Los Angeles for surgery and will most likely miss the beginning of his team’s training camp in September.
The right hand injury remained with Booker throughout the end of the 2017-18 season. He jammed it in practice on March 14, the day before the Suns’ played the Utah Jazz. Booker went on to shoot a horrific 3 out of 18 that game. Booker was then required to wear a splint to help improve his injury. No improvement was shown and Booker would miss the remaining 12 games of the season.
Booker the New Face of Phoenix
Booker, 21, signed a 5-year, $158 million max contract extension with the Suns over the summer. The Suns believe Booker is their key piece to winning a championship and have already started building around him. The franchise hopes to soon begin playing for a banner in June instead of drafting in the lottery.
During the signing of his contract extension, Booker said, per NBA.com:
“I am humbled and honored to commit to the Suns organization long term,” said Booker. “I have loved calling Phoenix home the last three seasons as this team and community are special to me. Thank you to the Suns for drafting me and believing in me. I look forward to the future and pursuing a title as a Phoenix Sun.”
Booker has been a scoring machine as of late. Averaging 24.9 points per game in only his third season in the league. He has been the most productive draft pick for Phoenix since being taken as a freshman out of Kentucky, who dropped to No. 13 in the 2015 NBA draft.
General Manager Ryan McDonough has surrounded Booker with key weapons to help Phoenix be competitive once again in the Western Conference. McDonough hopes to get back to the playoffs sooner rather than later. With three lottery picks in the past two drafts, including this year’s No. 1 overall pick, center Deandre Ayton, No. 10 pick Mikal Bridges and 2017 No. 4 overall pick Josh Jackson, Phoenix seems to be moving in the right direction.
The regular season opener is on Oct. 17 against the Dallas Mavericks.
Photo credit to gaurav kumar via Flickr
