​Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker has found himself at the center of a divisive contract discussion, with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale labeling his deal as the fifth-worst in the NBA. Favale made this assessment in his article, “Ranking the 8 Worst Contracts In the NBA After 2026 Free Agency,” published on Wednesday, July 8. Booker’s remaining deal carries a value of about $250.6 million over the next four years, and there is a player option for the 2029-30 season. Favale argues that paying a player who has only tallied a single All-NBA selection over the past four years represents risky territory for a franchise.
All-NBA recognition is a regular-season honor, not a definitive measure of a player’s overall value or contribution. The Suns clearly recognize this nuance, with Booker serving as a prominent example. To illustrate the point, consider Booker’s performance across different seasons and playoff runs. In the 2020-21 season, Booker did not earn an All-NBA nod, yet he elevated his play in the playoffs to lead Phoenix to the NBA Finals, producing an average of 27.3 points per game in the postseason—nearly two points above his regular-season scoring average. By contrast, the 2021-22 season saw Booker named First Team All-NBA, but the Suns fell in the Western Conference semifinals, and Booker’s scoring average in the playoffs dropped to 23.3 points per game, about 3.5 points below his regular-season average.
These contrasts underscore Favale’s argument: the Booker who missed an All-NBA selection was, in some ways, a more effective playoff performer than the version who earned First Team All-NBA. The broader point is that All-NBA selections do not capture the full spectrum of a player’s value or their impact in different contexts. Booker has not earned All-NBA honors in the past two seasons, yet he remained among the league’s elite scorers. In the 2025-26 season, he was one of only five players to average more than 26 points per game and more than six assists per game. In the 2024-25 season, he was one of just three players to average over 25 points per game, more than seven assists per game, and over four rebounds per game.
Favale concedes a nuanced view: Booker may be better suited to elevating a weaker supporting cast than Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a player Favale contends has a superior contract. Favale observes that Booker possesses “more levels to his playmaking,” but notes a heavy reliance on mid-range jumpers and a decline in rim frequency compared with a few years earlier. While Mitchell might grapple with some of the same issues and would fit into the smaller-guard category, Favale believes Mitchell can lean on a mix of three-point volume and efficiency—an approach that should yield a smoother aging process. In Favale’s assessment, Mitchell’s emphasis on three-point shooting and efficiency may be valued more highly than Booker’s ability to lift supporting casts, even though Booker has demonstrated high-level scoring and playmaking.
The core dispute in Favale’s ranking is not merely a numerical valuation but a question of how we measure value in the NBA. All-NBA selections, while prestigious, reflect only a slice of performance and do not tell the full story of a player’s impact, especially in postseason contexts. Booker’s arc—strong playoff performances without consistent All-NBA recognition in recent years—serves as a case study in the broader debate over contract value versus on-court production and marginal utility in a team context.
This discussion originated from a broader look at how teams value star players in the modern NBA, where contracts can span multiple seasons and the definitions of value continue to evolve. The article that sparked the debate appeared in the Arizona Republic under a title focusing on why one media outlet questions Devin Booker’s Phoenix Suns contract in the current market. As debates aboutPlayer value, contract length, and the relative importance of regular-season accolades versus postseason impact continue, Booker’s situation remains a focal point for evaluating how teams balance star salaries with the need to build a competitive supporting cast around them.