Number 1 one the list is Devin Booker. Through Devin Booker’s first four NBA seasons, his contributions were both eye-opening and but never enough. He has scored a total of 5,820 points which is the 81st-most in league history for a player’s first four seasons. His success was drowned in a pool of Phoenix Suns losses. Respect is almost impossible to receive under those circumstances. He could pop off for a huge game and it wont even matter. He has nine 40-point games from 2015-16 to 2018-19, he is tied with LeBron James for the 13th-most. At just 23 years old, Booker is one of only eight players who are averaging at least 26 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds per game. He’s a legitimate star, even if the basketball world has been slow to recognize him as one. This season has been different—for Booker and the Suns. His true shooting percentage, win shares and defensive box plus/minus have all hit career highs, and Phoenix has already matched its best win total with Devin Booker. Still, Booker didn’t snag his first All-Star invite until the league needed a last-minute injury replacement for Damian Lillard this season.
Number 2 on the list is Nikola Jokic. Last year during the playoffs Fox Sports 1’s Nick Wright went to Twitter and fires off the shots of criticism at both the Nuggets and their leader, Nikola Jokic: “The Nuggets are exactly what so many of us said they were: A pretend contender with a pretend superstar.” Jokic left him no other choice, averaging 25.1 points, 13.0 rebounds and 8.4 assists in 14 playoff games. Jokic’s stat line also featured a stellar .506/.393/.846 shooting slash.He did what a superstar should, because that’s what he is—even if casual fans haven’t all awakened to that fact. Jokic may not always score like a superstar and he might be overmatched athletically in a 40-and-over rec league, but his offensive arsenal—a soft shooting touch from every level and maybe the best vision ever for a 7-footer—is overwhelming. The Nuggets are within arm’s reach of a .700 winning percentage (something they’ve never posted since coming over from the ABA in 1976-77), and Jokic is at the center of that success.
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