Rockets are blessed by Suns' massive Devin Booker blunder

Houston Rockets fans should be celebrating Devin Booker's new contract. It's going to make life more difficult for the Suns.

To recap: whatever is bad for the Suns is good for the Rockets. Even after the earth-shattering Kevin Durant trade, the Rockets own draft capital from the Suns in 2027 and 2029.

So, some Rockets fans will disagree with the premise. Booker is good. Why would the Suns' retaining him be a net positive for the Rockets? Here's why:

Booker is now the highest-paid player in NBA history.

Rockets benefit from ill-advised Suns signing

That's right. Booker's two-year extension has an average annual value (AAV) of $72.5 million. For context, that's nearly double Alperen Sengun's yearly salary.

Is Booker the best player in NBA history? That's a reductive question. Still, it is staggering to consider that he'll make the most money a player has ever made in one season, despite falling comfortably outside the league's top-10 players.

Is he twice as good as Alperen Sengun? Box Plus/Minus (BPM) would suggest that he's worse. Booker's 0.4 BPM in 2024-25 should be deeply concerning for Suns fans. Comparatively, Sengun's BPM was 4.4. A baseless comparison? How about this:

Even Jalen Green had a 0.9 BPM in 2024-25.

I'm picking on one of the worst seasons of Booker's career. That said, he's arguably never had a season that justifies the richest contract in NBA history.

What are the Suns thinking?

Suns can't rebuild without Rockets' help

The Suns are thinking that they won't be getting those 2027 and 2029 picks back in the first place. They're avoiding a long-term tanking situation in hopes of competing, so retaining Booker makes some sense.

It's hard not to wonder how competitive they'll be. Booker and Green feel like a strange backcourt pairing. The Suns will be leaning on several young players. Ryan Dunn and Khaman Maluach could be an intriguing defensive backbone down the road, but it could be years until that looks good.

Amid that chaos, there's Booker. He is this organization's bedrock. It looks like he'll be a Sun for life:

That shouldn't scare the Rockets.

Rockets rival will have limited flexibility

Booker is a very talented player.

Some will say he's too talented to keep the Suns in the lottery. Here's the reality: Booker couldn't keep them out of the lottery last year, and they had Kevin Durant. Booker isn't a player who's going to singularly assure winning seasons.

Meanwhile, his supporting cast looks weaker than it has during his entire tenure with Phoenix. Unless Booker has a career year in 2027, this is a Suns team that should still be in the lottery by then. They'll be footing an enormous bill for Devin Booker in the process.

He's not one of the best players in the league, but he'll be compensated like one. Committing that much cap space to a low-end All-Star is borderline malpractice. Even when the Suns' young players start to coalesce, the Suns will be limited in both assets to trade to upgrade the team and cap space to bring in stars.

That's an awfully difficult way to run an NBA franchise.