Devin Booker made his long-awaited return to the Phoenix Suns after suffering a groin injury against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 1.
In his return game against the same Lakers on December 15, Booker looked like he had never been away. He scored 27 points in 31 minutes, reached the free-throw line 16 times, dished out seven assists and added six rebounds in a brutal two-point loss that prompted head coach Jordan Ott to call the refs after the match.
Despite the performance and the loss, that’s all good news, right?
Book’s return is undoubtedly good news for a Suns team that has defied expectations this season, but that return outing featured a familiar blemish in the box score.
Booker completed 0-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. His three-point percentage on the season now stands at 30.2% – by far the worst mark of his career. Equally troubling is that Booker is ranked 162nd out of 168 qualified hoopers at the time of writing. We’re talking about the territory of brothers LaMelo and Lonzo Ball (they rank 167th and 168th, respectively).
A mid-range deadeye, Booker has never really been known as a 3-point sniper throughout his career. But his career mark of 35.2% against downtown is still a lot better than it was going into the 2025-26 season. That career mark would put him tied with Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley at No. 121 on the 3-point rankings instead of the 162 where he sits now.
The emphasis on three-point shooting in the NBA has never been more evident. Teams around the league are shooting from distance more than ever before, embracing a shot that has gone from novelty to necessity. But for Booker, the shot wasn’t there yet, at least this season.
Including that goose egg from deep against the Lakers, Booker has gone 0-fer from long range six times this season. He has made fewer than two treys in more than half of his appearances this year and two or fewer triples in 18 of his 23 games played.
Again, three-point shooting has never been Booker’s calling card, but it’s reaching a point where we can no longer limit it to a small sample size.
Booker is attempting 5.6 three-pointers per game, which is his fewest long-range attempts since the 2020-21 season, when he drained 34% of his triples en route to an NBA Finals appearance.
If he continues to convert less than a third of his three-point attempts, it may be time for Book to focus more exclusively on mid-range shots or making contact to get to the free throw line. Of course, the ladder option exposes Booker to more punishment, which could put him back on the injured list – something he obviously needs to avoid.
The Suns and their fans shouldn’t be in complete panic over Booker’s cold shooting from deep, but it’s a statistic we should all keep an eye on.
Can Book find the long-range shot and break out of his three-point slump? Should he instead focus on targeting two-point attempts even more?
Fortunately for the Suns, there has been no correlation between Book’s outside shooting and the win. Phoenix is 3-3 in games where Book does not make a 3-pointer and 3-2 in games when he has converted three or more from beyond the arc.
That certainly alleviates some concerns, but it was shocking to see an otherwise phenomenal shooter sputter so consistently from three-point range for the first time as a professional.
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