This article is part of our The Prospect Post series.
Booker had himself a night for the ages Tuesday against the Pacers. Sure, his 32 points in 40 minutes didn't lead to a Suns win, but he joined some pretty elite company:
Devin Booker (19 yrs, 81 days) is the 3rd-youngest player ever to have a 30-point game. He joins LeBron James & Kevin Durant. #SunsVsPacers
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) January 20, 2016Booker was the youngest player AND the best shooter among the lottery hopefuls in his draft class, yet he still fell to the 13th pick because of questions about his overall upside. Sometimes these things are pretty easy when spelled out, and it's safe to say at least six or seven teams whiffed on this one.
Consider the Orlando Magic, who selected Mario Hezonja at No. 5. He is a project who could turn into a more athletic version of the player that Booker looks likely to become. They were perceived as the top two shooters in the draft, but Hezonja went eight spots ahead of Booker because he was perceived to have the higher ceiling. That may be true, theoretically, but when a player of Booker's age is shooting the lights out to this degree in his rookie season, while also being more athletic than the typical deadeye in the mold of Kyle Korver or J.J. Redick, it's hard to say he doesn't have a high ceiling.
If he had taken enough three-pointers to qualify (he has only attempted
Booker had himself a night for the ages Tuesday against the Pacers. Sure, his 32 points in 40 minutes didn't lead to a Suns win, but he joined some pretty elite company:
Devin Booker (19 yrs, 81 days) is the 3rd-youngest player ever to have a 30-point game. He joins LeBron James & Kevin Durant. #SunsVsPacers
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) January 20, 2016Booker was the youngest player AND the best shooter among the lottery hopefuls in his draft class, yet he still fell to the 13th pick because of questions about his overall upside. Sometimes these things are pretty easy when spelled out, and it's safe to say at least six or seven teams whiffed on this one.
Consider the Orlando Magic, who selected Mario Hezonja at No. 5. He is a project who could turn into a more athletic version of the player that Booker looks likely to become. They were perceived as the top two shooters in the draft, but Hezonja went eight spots ahead of Booker because he was perceived to have the higher ceiling. That may be true, theoretically, but when a player of Booker's age is shooting the lights out to this degree in his rookie season, while also being more athletic than the typical deadeye in the mold of Kyle Korver or J.J. Redick, it's hard to say he doesn't have a high ceiling.
If he had taken enough three-pointers to qualify (he has only attempted 74 this season), his 44.6 percent rate from behind the arc would rank sixth in the NBA, behind five players who are all at least five years older than him. In fact, the player whom he has been compared to in this space previously, Klay Thompson, is almost seven years older than Booker and shooting 42.6 percent this season. There are plenty of reasons to compare the two; they have a very similar build, with Thompson measuring 1.5 inches taller, while Booker tested as a slightly better athlete. Both are true shooting guards with the capability of hitting six-plus threes on any given night, and they both are capable team defenders with high basketball IQs.
Here is how they stack up through their first 37 games in the NBA:
| Player | Age | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| Booker | 19 | 19.4 | 48.3 | 44.60 | 80.6 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 8.7 |
| Thompson | 21-22 | 17.1 | 44.8 | 45.80 | 78.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 7.9 |
It's a small sample, to be sure, but it's hard not to look at Thompson as a very realistic outcome for Booker's career, given his age compared to Thompson's age in their respective rookie years. With Thompson, an All-Star, representing a realistic ceiling, and Redick, fourth-best player on a contender, representing a realistic floor, the Suns may have had the best value pick of last year's draft. Make sure to hold onto Booker in dynasty leagues, as he likely only cost $1 on draft day.
Myles Turner (C)
It is probably too early to say that Turner is definitely going to be a good NBA player, as he has only 309 minutes under his belt, but the early returns are quite impressive. It looks like I was wrong about this one, as I thought Turner looked like a good candidate to be a bust among this year's crop of lottery picks. Maybe he was a good candidate to bust at the time, but he has certainly bucked that notion.
In the four games this season when he has played more than 20 minutes, he is averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting 60 percent from the field in 26.3 minutes per game. Needless to say, fantasy owners are hoping he continues to see big minutes after playing 60 in his last two games and presumably impressing the coaching staff over those two contests.
A big reason that he saw that many minutes was because the great Ian Mahinmi was dealing with a heel injury, but the big question that lingers is, how many minutes will Turner see when the Pacers' frontcourt is at full strength?
The coaching staff is obviously pretty comfortable with Mahinmi, as he probably offers more overall defensive reliability, especially within the scheme, than Turner at this point. However, it also seems pretty obvious that this team has no chance of getting out of the Eastern Conference if they keep the status quo. Granted, they probably have no chance regardless, as long as LeBron James is healthy, but maximizing what they get from Turner during his rookie campaign seems like the best way for this team to reach another level.
For this reason, Turner needs to be added in all single-season leagues where he's available and deployed in daily leagues whenever it seems likely that he'll play at least 25 minutes. So what about in dynasty leagues? Turner was a high-risk pick in those formats prior to the season, but now he should be a highly-coveted asset.
The guy he reminds me the most of is a young Andre Drummond, but unlike with Booker and Thompson, it still takes a lot of imagination to see Turner reaching Drummond's current level. Here is how the two stacked up physically at the pre-draft combine:
| Player | Age | Height w/ shoes | Weight | Wingspan | Standing Reach | Body Fat |
| Turner | 19 | 6'11.5" | 239 | 7'4" | 9'4" | 9.30% |
| Drummond | 19 | 6'11.75" | 279 | 7'6.25" | 9'1.5" | 7.50% |
The similar physical dimensions have to be pretty encouraging for Turner's owners in dynasty leagues, and while Turner may never be quite the absolute monster that Drummond is on the glass, the rest of the game might be there, especially once he fills out. Oh, and Turner is shooting 67.5 percent on 40 free-throw attempts this season, so there's a chance he could be Drummond without Drummond's biggest wart. Stay tuned.
