Ex-Cat Devin Booker: ‘I’m done with not making the playoffs’

After the Phoenix Suns completed the franchise’s fourth-consecutive losing season, one of its rising stars, Kentucky product Devin Booker, said he’s had enough.

“I’m done with not making the playoffs,” Booker, who’s been with the Suns for three of those seasons, said Wednesday during the team’s media exit interviews. “I’m serious. This is probably my last year ever not making the playoffs. If that’s putting pressure on myself, I’m going to take this summer and work that hard so that it doesn’t happen again.”

Booker said his goal is “turning the franchise around and getting it back how it used to be.”

“You watch the highlights of Barkley, Nash and them and how alive the arena was,” Booker said. “So one of my goals is to get it back that way.”

Phoenix will be looking for a permanent head coach. Jay Triano, who is a candidate, took over in an interim role after Earl Watson’s abrupt firing three games into the season. That decision came amid turmoil surrounding three opening losses and a tweet by one of its other young stars, Eric Bledsoe, another Kentucky product, who said on Twitter around the same time “I don’t want to be here.”

The Suns finished with a 21-61 record, last in the Western Conference, but have a young lineup that could be bolstered next season by the return of fellow ex-Cat Brandon Knight from injury and a few new first-round NBA Draft picks.

Booker averaged 24.9 points and 4.7 assists per game this year and has led the team in scoring each of the last two seasons. He was recently named to the Team USA Basketball roster for its summer camps in Las Vegas.

Phoenix has the highest odds of obtaining the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft and, at worst, will end up with the No. 4 overall pick, and it could have as many as two more picks via prior deals with other teams.

This story was originally published April 12, 2018 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Ex-Cat Devin Booker: ‘I’m done with not making the playoffs’."