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Devin Booker Geron Christian Color Rush Jersey , the high-scoring guard at the heart of Phoenix’s rebuilding plans, has signed a five-year, $158 million maximum contract with the Suns.
Booker, 21, tweeted a photo of himself smiling as he signed the contract Saturday night, moments before the Suns announced the deal, which makes him the highest-paid player in the franchise’s history.
The 13th overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Kentucky, Booker has averaged 19.8 points per game in his three NBA seasons. He averaged 24.9 points last season, shooting 38 percent from 3-point range. He won the NBA 3-point contest at All-Star weekend in February.
Booker set a franchise record by scoring 70 points in a game at Boston on March 24 Derwin James Color Rush Jersey , 2017, just the sixth player in NBA history to score that many.
”I am humbled & honored to commit to the Suns organization long term,” he wrote. ”I loved calling Phoenix home the last 3 seasons as this team & community are special to me. Thank you to the Suns for drafting me and believing in me. I look forward to the future & pursuing a title as a Sun.”
The announced signing came five days after Booker and his agent met with Suns owner Robert Sarver, general manager Ryan McDonough and vice president of basketball operations James Jones in Los Angeles to discuss the contract.
The contract takes effect in the 2019-20 season.
”`Book’ has been a pillar for the Suns franchise ever since he arrived in Phoenix in 2015,” McDonough said in a news release announcing the signing. ”Devin and the team both wanted to extend this agreement with the club as long as we possibly could. This agreement reflects a commitment from both parties to the Phoenix community, the state of Arizona and Suns fans worldwide.”
Booker topped 4,000 career points last March 2, becoming the third-youngest player to reach that milestone. Only LeBron James and Kevin Durant were younger.
But while Booker has amassed big individual statistics, there has been little team success. The Suns have missed the playoffs the last eight seasons and had the worst record in the NBA last season at 21-61.
After the season John Franklin-Myers Color Rush Jersey , Booker said his days of missing the playoffs were over.
That may be a bit optimistic, but the team added to its talented core of young players big-time when it selected center Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Ayton and fellow first-rounder Mikal Bridges join Booker and Josh Jackson as the talented young core of the team under new coach Igor Kokoskov.
Booker will be 26, and presumably approaching his prime, when the new contract expires.
A game behind the Philadelphia 76ers in the race for the third seed in the NBA Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers long ago received a gift from the schedulers: home-and-home matchups against the woeful and wounded New York Knicks to end the regular season, starting Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Whether the Cavaliers can catch the scorching 76ers remains to be seen. Philadelphia is the NBA’s hottest team with a 14-game winning streak — including a 132-130 victory over Cleveland on Friday — and with games at Atlanta and at home against Milwaukee still on the schedule.
But the Cavaliers have their eyes on that crucial prize, made even more crucial by No. 2-seed Boston’s injury problems. A third seed would ensure a second-round matchup with Boston or the No. 7 seed. A fourth seed could mean a meeting with the No. 1 seed Toronto Raptors.
“I always think you try to take the easy way out, it’s always going to come back and bite you,” Cleveland’s Kevin Love said after losing to Philadelphia. “Both teams played extremely hard tonight Authentic Josh Allen Jersey , we both wanted to get the higher seed no matter who we’re playing. Some matchups work in your favor, I guess, but I just think taking the easy way out in some cases is not the way to go.”
The Cavaliers’ loss to the 76ers revealed a glaring weakness that seemed to have been cured. Cleveland gave up 132 points.
The Cavs entered that matchup on a five-game winning streak and with wins in 10 of 11. The first five wins were scary — the Cavaliers allowed an average of 113 points per game — but in the six games before the loss to Philadelphia, Cleveland had allowed 102 points per game.
“We’re a prideful team, and the only way to get back in was be scrappy, play a little bit more physical and hit more shots,” James said. “We were down 30, and for us to come all the way back shows what were capable of doing. But every offensive rebound here, every missed shot. … We turned the ball over Youth Lamar Jackson Jersey , they made us pay, and they were flying.”
Luckily for the Cavs — at least for the next two games — the Knicks are one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA.
The Knicks have gone 4-16 in their last 20 games, averaging 105.5 points per game, and that includes 128-, 124-, and 122-point nights. Remove those and New York averaged 102.
Hurting the Knicks: Tim Hardaway Jr. (ankle) remains out.
Solution for New York: The emergence of rookie second-round pick Damyean Dotson, a two-way player with the G-League’s Westchester Knicks. Dotson had 30 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes in the team’s surprising 122-98 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday.
“It’s amazing. Just trying to stay the course, keep believing, keep working hard Youth Josh Allen Jersey ,” Dotson told reporters after becoming the first Knicks rookie to put up a 30-10 game since Patrick Ewing in 1985-86. “Eventually something good will happen. It’s playing the right way, believing in myself, believing in the development, coming from the G-League, coming from back and forth, playing.”
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