Suns will not trade Devin Booker, who will not request trade

The Phoenix Suns will not trade Devin Booker, one of the top scorers in the NBA. 

Booker also doesn’t plan on requesting a trade from the Suns. 

“I mean, it’s a rare breed,” Booker told ESPN. “I take pride in the community in Phoenix, the people that have supported me since I was 18 when things were ugly. And the people that are with us, we just fell short of accomplishing what we want. So I want to do it, and I want to do it here. That’s the responsibility of being a franchise player, and I wear that with honor. So it might not look the most pretty right now, but we got to get it done and I’m going to do it.”

The Houston Rockets are interested in trading for Booker, who has spent his entire career with the Suns. 

Phoenix owner Mat Ishbia told ESPN he will not trade Booker this summer. 

“Never happen,” Ishbia said. “It’s silly. So here’s what I’ll tell you: I have Devin Booker in the prime. In order to win an NBA championship, you got to have a superstar. You got to have a great player.”

The Suns are having a terrible season. They are in 11th place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 30-36. 

Phoenix wouldn’t qualify for the play-in tournament if the season ended today. 

“It’s been a really disappointing year. Very disappointed,” Ishbia said. “There’s not a person in the organization that doesn’t feel that way. We had high expectations. We felt really good about where going into the season and we’ve not met any of those expectations. We’ve been well below what we all expected, and it’s not anything close.”

Ishbia, who plans to build around Booker, will not embark on a rebuild. 

“It’s surprising to me that other people, other fans, they actually like the rebuild process,” Ishbia said. “Like, ‘Oh, let’s rebuild it.’ Are you crazy?! You think I’m going to go for seven years and try to get there? You enjoy the 2030 draft picks that we have holding? I want to try to see the game today. I want us to win today, and we’re going to try.”