What does Devin Booker need to do to win MVP?

Devin Booker is finally getting his flowers after this past Olympics run. They are long overdue, but the reality is narrative matters regarding accolades and award voting.

The question isn’t whether or not Devin Booker has another leap in him. It’s how big will the leap be, and when is it coming?

RELATED: Player Preview: Prime Devin Booker SZN

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How can he leap to MVP status?

Booker finished 4th during the 2021-22 season when the Suns won a staggering 64 games. The Kentucky product finished the regular season averaging 26.8 points per game on 46.6% shooting from the field to go with 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists on a 57.6 TS%.

Chris Paul received a ton of credit for the Suns’ success, blocking part of that narrative push that Booker needed to become a serious candidate. If he can’t win it in a season as the best player on a 64-win team, is it even possible?

He received no first-place votes but one vote for second place. He had eight third-place votes, 49 fourth-place votes, and 22 fifth-place votes for a total of 216 votes.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic took home his second MVP award in a row.

Here’s how he can do it:

• 1) It has to be HIS team. Leadership, accountability, consistency, etc.
• 2) Team Success. The Suns have to finish as a top 2 seed in the West, bare minimum. The more wins, the better. We saw that 64 wins wasn’t enough to propel him, but team success gets your foot in the door.
• 3) Scoring title? Elite efficiency? Defensive leap? There has to be a noticeable bump in his game somewhere — possibly a slight one across the board and a strong season from the Suns.

Prime Book

Leadership is something that this Suns team has lacked since Chris Paul’s departure. Leaders can lead in different ways, but vocal leadership is something this team needs and it has to come from one of their stars. Kevin Durant is not that guy, and that’s okay.

Devin Booker needs to be more involved and be the lead dog in the pack. There needs to be no doubt about it both internally and externally. Not only for the sake of narratives but for the sake of this Suns team reaching new heights.

It’s all about hoisting the Larry O’Brien at the end of the day.

Booker put together a strong season, averaging 27.1 points per game, a career-high in assists (6.9), effective field goal percentage (55.0%), and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.65).

It seems like a tall task to top that level of efficiency on that volume with the team they have in place, but it’s not out of the question. If he continues to make the leaps he’s made each season and the efficiency spikes playing alongside point guards who will put him in the right spots for open looks, he could have his best offensive season yet.

And I do not say that lightly, because he has had some monstrous offensive seasons.

Defensively is where he could continue to improve, especially if he has to expend less energy (running point-Book is exhausting). The early career narrative about who he was as a defender was unfair and he has been shedding it for some time now, but it took an Olympic run for the whole world to see for people to wake up.

We need a blend of Olympic Book intangibles sprinkled into a damn-near 30-point per-game scorer on elite efficiency while leading his team to finish atop the West in the regular season.

I doubt Booker is concerned with MVP stuff or narratives. The main goal is bringing a ring to Phoenix, and that starts with Devin Booker making one more leap into undeniable superstardom.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images