close
close

Anthony Edwards or Devin Booker best shooting guard in the NBA?

play

Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker was considered the NBA's best shooting guard for years, but now Anthony Edwards has joined the team.

HoopsHype recently ranked the Minnesota Timberwolves' rising superstar among the league's top two shooting guards for the 2024-25 season, with Booker ranked second and Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell third on the list of top 30 shooting guards.

HoopsHype wrote: “Despite Edwards taking over, Best Shooting Guard in the NBA todayDevin Booker had a great 2023-24 season, averaging over 27 points per game and nearly seven assists per night while often being used as the Suns' star 2-guard and point guard due to the team's poor roster composition. It's not like Booker didn't show up in the playoffs either, as he posted 27.5 points, 6.0 assists and 1.8 steals on 49.2 percent shooting against a very strong Minnesota team.

“At the same time, he was outside the top 30 players in the league according to VORP and BPM, so having him at No. 2 on this list isn't a huge insult. Overall, Booker remains one of the best shooting guards in the league in our estimation (FYI, spots 2 through 4 on this list were extremely close together in our voting).

“So we wouldn't be surprised if the former Kentucky star were to take over the title of the league's second-best 2-guard again in 2024-25. But we believe Edwards will keep that spot for many years to come.”

Edwards led the T-Wolves past Booker and the Suns in a first-round sweep. Minnesota surprised the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals with a great comeback win in Game 7 at Ball Arena and reached the conference finals before losing to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Suns began the 2023–24 season as championship contenders with Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Booker as the “Big 3,” while the T-Wolves were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Oh, how things have changed in less than a year.

Edwards is that guy now. He's the leader of a championship contender that faces the challenge of continuing to play at an elite level, improving and leading Minnesota back to the West Finals, a spot it last reached in 2004 with Kevin Garnett before last season, with a chance to advance and compete for the championship.

The top pick in the 2020 draft has always been super talented and confident. Edwards explained that he is the No. 1 player on Team USA, which just won Olympic gold in Paris with Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Booker on the roster.

He is the franchise in Minnesota.

Booker has been in Phoenix for years.

He has faced the pressure of being the man on a team and has delivered on more than one occasion. He has already played in an NBA Finals in 2021, is a four-time All-Star and has won two Olympic gold medals.

Booker is a proven shooter with the purest jump shot, and the talented and ambitious player is the more successful of the two. He started ahead of Edwards at the Olympics, but right now Edwards is the better player.

The Suns have three players on HoopsHype's list of the 30 best shooting guards for the 2024-25 season: Booker (2and), Bradley Beal (12th) and Grayson Allen (29th).

HoopsHype wrote: “The Suns made a huge move by signing former All-Star Bradley Beal to his enormous contract that runs through 2026-27, is fully guaranteed and includes an almost inexplicable no-transfer clause, despite already having one of the league's best shooting guards on their roster.

“The results were less than impressive, as Phoenix struggled all season, in part because they didn't have a traditional point guard on their roster, before being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, a sweep by the Timberwolves,” HoopsHype wrote.

“Phoenix did a good job this summer filling its lead guard needs by adding Tyus Jones and Monte Morris to the roster. That was a godsend considering how badly the Suns needed reinforcements at the point guard position despite only being able to offer minimum salaries.”

There has also been speculation that the Suns might consider Beal as a sixth man now that Jones is on the roster.

Durant is second on HoopsHype's list of the 30 best small forwards for the 2024-25 season, behind Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum. The ageless James is third.

HoopsHype wrote: “After becoming the first player to win four Olympic gold medals while also becoming the program's all-time leading scorer, Phoenix Suns small forward Kevin Durant is now undoubtedly Team USA's best player. He continues to be at near peak form, finishing in the top 10 in Most Valuable Player voting last season and being named to the All-NBA 2nd Team.”

“Durant is a powerful player, can shoot baskets over anyone thanks to his unearthly size and length for a forward, and is also a solid rebounder and playmaker. He is also as efficient as you could imagine for a frequent shooter, posting shooting percentages of 52.3/41.3/85.6 last season despite so many of his shot attempts being of elite difficulty.

“He may not be quite at the level of his prime, but Durant remains a top-15 player overall in the game, and we don't expect that to change in 2024-25. We just hope Phoenix's point guard additions this summer help fix the Suns' rotation and positional issues from last year, because few players are as entertaining to watch when they make it as far in the playoffs as Durant, as evidenced by his two championships and two Finals MVPs.”

Allen had the most successful season of his career in his first year in Phoenix.

The Suns signed him shortly before last season's training camp in a three-way trade from Milwaukee that sent Deandre Ayton to Portland, Damian Lillard to the Bucks and 7-foot-4 Jusuf Nurkic to Phoenix.

HoopsHype wrote: “Phoenix's Grayson Allen, who led the team in three-point percentage last season at 46.1 percent, is now the Suns' third shooting guard on this list, which kind of explains the team's struggles from last season.

“Regardless, Allen has a career three-point percentage of 41.2 percent and is one of the best spot-up weapons in basketball, making him an elite role player for a Suns team looking to compete for a title in the coming seasons.”

The Suns didn't have anyone on HoopsHype's list of the top 30 point guards or power forwards for the 2024-25 season. HoopsHype hasn't released its top 30 centers for the 2024-25 season yet, but Nurkic will likely end up on the list.

Have an opinion on the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.

You may also like...