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Fantasy Basketball: How Should We Treat the Phoenix Suns' Backcourt?

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Draft Devin Booker Next

With the news that Booker will be the starting shooting guard heading into the regular season, he'll basically have the ability to pick up where he left off a year ago, when he was forced into big minutes with Bledsoe and other sidelined. Even if Knight comes off the bench in relief of the youngster, it's likely to be within a revolving three-man rotation that sees Booker get around 30 to 32 minutes, Bledsoe 32 to 35 minutes, and Knight 23 to 27 minutes.

Another reason to believe that Watson will find minutes for all three players is Booker's new figure. No, I don't mean that Booker dropped weight like his running mate. It's actually quite the opposite, in that Booker added 5 to 10 pounds and, as a result, could see some time at the three. I couldn't even image the possibilities of a Bledsoe-Knight-Booker lineup.

No matter how they line up or how minutes play out, you should have confidence in Booker. Why? Well, in his rookie season, the former Kentucky star produced 13.8 points per game with 99 total threes in 76 games (51 starts). He also added 2.6 assists and 2.5 rebounds a night. The numbers, the talent, and another NBA offseason -- seems like a recipe for a successful sophomore season to me.

With all this in mind, Booker's consensus ADP of 76 seems pretty low. It's even lower if you're playing over at Yahoo!, where he's being drafted around pick 91, compared to 62nd in ESPN leagues. You could really take advantage if he drops past the end of the sixth round.


That's 19 threes in 59 seconds. The kid's worth the upside, especially if you need threes after going bigs earlier on.