Devin Booker is all in being a leader for the Phoenix Suns.
The team’s franchise player plans to be more vocal and demanding with this new-look team filled with rookies and newcomers.
“The leadership aspect is going to be more important than ever this year,” Booker said at Suns media day Wednesday, Sept. 24 at PHX Arena. “Just realizing our roster, the age of our roster. Just the experience that I’ve had and what I’ve seen. I’m going to do what I can. I’m always going to use my voice.”
Booker has been the face of the team, but he hasn’t always been one to let his feelings be known. With the Suns in restart mode after a 36-win season, Booker plans to be the forefront beyond his actions and play on the court.
“I’m going to use my voice always,” Booker said. “I feel something is going to be beneficial for the team, especially with this team now for the growth for any young player. I’ve been around these guys a lot. They’re already hitting me with the right questions. It was tough not getting where we wanted to with Kevin (Durant and Bradley Beal), two guys I have high respect for and always will.”
The Suns begin training camp on Sept. 25, with Booker, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, eager to see what this group can do.
“How lucky am I, first-year head coach to have a superstar, a guy that’s proven in the league,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “A guy that’s done it at every single level. NBA. Olympics. That’s a blessing and I think that whatever has happened in the past has happened in the past. This is his team.”
Looking to establish a tough, physical and aggressive style of play built around defense, Phoenix opens the regular season Oct. 22 against the Sacramento Kings at PHX Arena.
“I think we’re a better group than what people think we are,” Suns guard Grayson Allen said. “I’m pretty confident in this team. I like the team that we have. I think the pieces we have mesh well together. I think it will be a very different identity than we’ve had the last two years I was here.”
How Booker shares the backcourt with Jalen Green has been a topic of discussion since the Suns traded Durant to the Houston Rockets for Dillon Brooks, Green and the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft, who wound up being Duke freshman 7-footer Khaman Malauch.
“I think I’m going to be able to learn a lot from him while at the same time adding what I can bring to the table,” Green said about Booker. “I think we’re going to complement each other a lot, especially with the system that Ott has got us playing. I think we’re going to be playing fast and create a lot for each other and others.”
Then there’s Brooks, a fiery competitor who has had his share of battles with Booker over the years. Brooks always took on the challenge of guarding Booker, a matchup that consisted of trash talking and physical play, but Booker never backed down.
Now they’re teammates.
“When you meet me, you like me,” Brooks said. “When you don’t meet me, you just play against me, you hate me. That’s the way I like it.”
Booker returned to Phoenix feeling rejuvenated after an unusually long summer.
No playoffs or Olympics. Booker filled that time putting in work.
“I think Devin is primed for a great year,” Suns general manager Brian Gregory said. “I talked about his work ethic over the summer. His two-a-days that he puts in. I think he’s excited about the new challenges of even taking a greater leadership role.”
Booker’s offseason also consisted of signing a historic two-year, $145-million extension that puts him under contract with the Suns through the 2029-30 season and sends a message the franchise is looking to ride with him for the long haul.
“Devin Booker is the franchise player,” Suns team owner Mat Ishbia said. “He’s one of the greatest Suns of all time. He’s been here his whole career. Signed an extension to keep him here for his whole career. The best part about Devin is he wants to be here just like we want him here and that’s what a great marriage looks like.”
Adjusting to a new head coach again
He’s entering his 11th NBA season with his fourth head coach in four seasons under Ott, a former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant who replaced a fired Mike Budenholzer. Booker was part of the head coaching search process and endorsed Ott.
“We broke bread a little bit,” said Booker about Ott as they met for 20 minutes. “He showed me some film. I was just impressed with the way he sees the game evolving and the game changing and understanding that something that might have worked two years before could be totally different now.”
Booker is the lone returning starter from last season’s opener.
The Suns dealt Jusuf Nurkic to the Charlotte Hornets before the 2025 trade deadline and traded Durant before the 2025 draft. They bought out Beal, who is now with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Tyus Jones joined the Orlando Magic as a free agent.
Durant and Beal were the biggest departures to put a crashing end to the two-year run of Phoenix’s Big 3. The Suns went 45-33 with Booker, Durant and Beal, but they were swept by Minnesota in the first round of the 2024 playoffs and missed the 2025 postseason.
“I feel like I used my voice a lot last year, too, but we just fell short,” Booker said. “It wasn’t as connected as we wanted it to be. I don’t think anybody had problems with each other off the court. We simply weren’t connected enough.”
Booker and Durant had developed a strong friendship over the years. Seeing him go without winning a championship haunts Booker, but he appreciates that opportunity to play with an all-time great.
“It’ll always be a disappointment to me to not do what we all sought out to do,” Booker said.
Phoenix went into the 2024-25 season with a second straight NBA championship coach in Mike Budenholzer, who replaced a fired Frank Vogel, and the NBA’s first $400-million team.
The Suns started 8-1, but between the injuries, bad fit and lack of chemistry on various levels, they suffered their first losing season since 2019-20, which was the last time they failed to make the playoffs before last season.
“Honestly, I don’t really know (why it didn’t work),” Suns guard Collin Gillespie said. “We had names on paper. It could’ve just been a fit situation or a jell situation with how guys played on the floor, but we didn’t have it. (Gregory and Ishbia) sat down, they made changes and they tried to bring new, young energy in there and I think they did a great job in what they did in the offseason and trying to put out a product that the fans will appreciate.”
Booker had another productive season after winning a second Olympic gold medal in Paris.
He averaged 25.6 points in surpassing Hall of Famer Walter Davis as Phoenix’s all-time leading scorer and a career-high 7.1 assists in 75 games, the most he’s played since his second NBA season in 2016-17.
However, the Suns struggled, leaving Ishbia to make major changes.
Ishbia elevated Gregory from vice president of player programming to general manager in replacing James Jones, who now works for the NBA in basketball operations.
The Suns hired Ott, who has Michigan State ties with Ishbia and Gregory.
“He’s a basketball fanatic,” Suns forward Ryan Dunn said about Ott. “He loves the game. It’s something I think every head coach should be. There are times where I came in to work out at night and he’s there at 9 p.m., sitting in his office, watching film. He’s very involved, very hands-on. He loves to interact with us and pick our brains about what we see.”
The Suns then moved Durant to the Rockets for Green, Brooks and Maluach, who just turned 19 years old on Sept. 14. They traded two first round picks to Charlotte for 7-footer Mark Williams, who is expected to start at center.
They return Ryan Dunn, Allen, Royce O’Neale, Oso Ighodaro, Gillespie and Nick Richards and have rookie draft picks Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea.
Jordan Goodwin is back as he played for the Suns in 2023-24. Nigel Hayes-Davis is a free agent addition who starred overseas. Isaiah Livers and CJ Huntley signed as two-way players as did Brea and Jared Butler is on a training camp contract.
These are the 2025-26 Suns. They’re not expected to compete for a championship, but they have a new identity and one of the game’s best players in Booker to build around.
“We’re lucky, again, to he not only plays for the Phoenix Suns, he wants to live here,” Ott said. “I’ve been around different teams. You to have your superstar in the state, in the city, in the gym, is a major luxury for us. We talk about how the gym has felt, guys being in there to work and it starts at the top and without his commitment with us in Phoenix, with the Phoenix Suns, extremely, extremely grateful to him. Looking forward to continuing to build our relationship.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Devin Booker talks leadership, not winning with Kevin Durant
