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Landing Spots for Devin Booker During 2025 NBA Offseason
Devin Booker may not want to play for a team other than the Phoenix Suns, and team governor Mat Ishbia told ESPN's Tim MacMahon that a Booker deal will "never happen."
But things change quickly in the NBA and, more importantly, the Suns are entering an offseason in which they may finally be forced to recognize that their current plan is destined for disaster.
Deep into the second apron, nearly certain to trade Kevin Durant, possessing no control over their first-round picks until 2032 (and that one might be frozen) and coming off a season that didn't even yield a play-in berth, Phoenix has the bleakest future in the league.
Unless, as The Athletic's John Hollinger suggested, it makes the hard decision to move Booker.
If the Suns ever come to their senses and seek to deal the player who's anchored the franchise for a decade, we've got some suggestions.
Houston Rockets
1 of 5
If the Suns want to maximize their return in a Booker trade, the Houston Rockets have to be their first call. The surest way to make a post-Booker rebuild work out is to get their own future first-round picks back from Houston. That would make tanking pay off with a high lottery position.
Though Booker would be a perfect fit in Houston, the Rockets' interest in the four-time All-Star isn't what it used to be, according to Sam Amick and Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
The Rockets smashed expectations in 2024-25, riding rugged defense, athleticism and rebounding to secure the West's No. 2 seed. The top offensive rebounding rate in the league and high-frequency transition attacks got the Rockets up to No. 12 in offensive efficiency, but that ranking hides a major issue: Houston can't score in half-court or clutch settings.
The Rockets ranked 22nd in half-court scoring efficiency and 18th in close-and-late situations this season. They were right behind the 17-win Utah Jazz in the latter.
Add Booker to the mix in place of Jalen Green, and the Rockets would suddenly have a multi-time All-NBA alpha (with Finals experience) to stabilize the offense, particularly at the end of tight games. They certainly could have used him to tip the balance in their rock-fight seven-game first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Not to overstate the case, but Booker could be the final piece in an up-and-coming Houston team's championship puzzle.
Detroit Pistons
2 of 5
The Detroit Pistons smashed expectations to an even more extreme degree than the Rockets. They more than tripled their win total from the 2023-24 campaign and vaulted into the playoffs with Cade Cunningham making the leap to true stardom.
Considering how tightly contested many of Detroit's first-round games were against the New York Knicks, it may only take one more reliable offensive threat to get it over the hump. Booker would certainly fit the bill.
Booker could be the Cunningham complement who punishes opponents that sell out to stop one player without fear of the rest of the team creating enough offense to win.
Forget the homecoming angle on Booker, who was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The return-to-roots narrative almost never ends up a factor in trades, and you don't even need it to make a Pistons deal sensible.
Detroit is on the rise, and it needs someone to share offensive-creation responsibilities with Cunningham. Maybe a recovered Jaden Ivey is that someone, or perhaps Ron Holland II has more in his bag than he showed as a rookie. But Booker is ready to elevate the Pistons' attack right now, and the team's leap up the standings suggests it's in a position to do some shorter-term thinking.
The Pistons' offense was 4.4 points per 100 possessions worse whenever Cunningham was off the floor this year. Booker could prevent slippage in those minutes and supercharge the ones he shares with one of the league's rising stars.
New York Knicks
3 of 5
A third team would be a necessity in any Booker deal involving the New York Knicks, and Phoenix would have to desperately want a Mikal Bridges reunion for this to get off the ground. But if you focus on the quality of the landing spot from Booker and his acquiring team's perspective, New York is nearly as good as it gets.
Major market, entrenched point guard in Jalen Brunson who could facilitate for Booker like Chris Paul once did in Phoenix, an offense that could use another from-scratch playmaker—it's all there for Booker with the Knicks.
If New York were to bring in Booker, it could also look to ship Karl-Anthony Towns elsewhere. The big man's offensive contributions wouldn't be nearly as critical to the team's success with another All-NBA guard to keep the points flowing, and it was clear all season that KAT couldn't anchor a quality defense.
Brunson's clutch heroics have defined New York's postseason, but Booker could make it so the Knicks don't need to wait until the 11th hour to put games away.
Oklahoma City Thunder
4 of 5
The Oklahoma City Thunder don't look like they need a roster shakeup, but is it that hard to imagine a postseason run that ends early because OKC can't reliably generate enough offense when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is off the floor?
After all, that's exactly what happened last year. And through a couple of rounds in 2025, OKC has certainly endured some scoring droughts.
If we get an OKC flameout, the call for change will be loud. The Thunder have a trove of picks that could give the Suns exactly the kind of rebuilding war chest they currently lack—along with plenty of matching salary that wouldn't clog up their cap sheet for the next half-decade.
Booker alongside SGA, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren would be a terrifying thought for the rest of the league.
If we assume the Rockets are out of the running, no one can give Phoenix the kind of haul Oklahoma City can. And from Booker's perspective, what better landing spot could there be than one with an all-time defense that might only need a minor scoring upgrade to go on a dynastic run?
Orlando Magic
5 of 5
Take everything we already said about the Rockets' excellent defense and shoddy offense, multiply it by two, and you've got the Orlando Magic.
Framed that way, their need for Booker is even greater.
Last offseason's signing of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fell flat partly because the veteran guard's three-point shooting cratered to 34.2 percent, his lowest mark since the 2015-16 campaign. But it also failed to lift the Magic to new heights because the offense was more than a decent floor-spacing shooter away from respectability.
Orlando needs a genuine shot-creator in the backcourt—one who can beat his matchup in isolation, run pick-and-rolls and provide spot-up spacing. That's the description of a legitimate star on offense, which might seem like a pie-in-the-sky upgrade until you note the Magic's 26th-ranked attack.
A scoring profile that bad needs a star-caliber boost.
Booker would be an ideal fit next to Jalen Suggs, who isn't a true point guard. As good as it gets among facilitating 2s, Booker could combine with Suggs to split playmaking duties, potentially lifting the Magic's offense to a level worthy of the team's elite work on the other end.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
