LaVine and Booker

Booker is around 18ppg with bad shooting % and Lavine is around 20ppg. Please keep into account that this is on non playoff teams and Lavine is also leading the league in minutes per game.

They might get 22-23ppg but I don’t think they can really consistently score 25-30ppg each season regularly. As their teams get better and more competitive they are not going to be able / needed to score 25-30ppg

I agree with your general assessment and outlook for both players. I am especially impressed with Lavine averaging 20+ despite having Towns and Wiggins on the team, two players who need the ball to create and score and are also averaging 20+ points per game. And the Wolves would be in the playoff picture right now if only they know how to keep leads, something they still have time to learn as the season develops. On the other hand, as much as I like Booker, tbh i think that he has actually underwhelmed so far this season compared to what most people expected from him after his strong finish in his rookie year ( I could actually say the same thing about Towns somehow). But in Booker’s defense, Bledsoe is having a resurgent year, while the rest of the Suns team feels like a mess. In 2-3 years, both these players will learn to adjust more to the NBA game, develop their skills, and in my mind will undoubtedly be 2 of the top 5 shooting guards in the league (esp given how shallow it is right now). 

Side note: While I like both players and have been generally impressed by their development, something funny I realized regarding these two is that coming into their respective drafts, Lavine was being sold as a combo guard who can eventually learn how to be a better PG and Booker was seen as almost strictly a spot-up shooter. Yet 2-3 years later, we have all basically given up on the Zach Lavine point guard experiment while Booker seems to have a better overall feel for the game as a point guard in pinches. 

I’ve been watching a lot of the Suns games (mainly because of Devin Booker) and I really think Devin Booker’s poor shooting this season is a result of terrible coaching. 

No one’s talking about it yet, but Earl Watson is Scott Brooks 2.0. Their offense is basically Bledsoe and Booker taking turns handling the rock in the pick and roll. No motion or movement before the play. It’s a lot similar to the horrible "offense" Brooks ran with KD and Russ where they run down the clock deciding who gets to isolate in that possesion and chuck up a bad shot.

For such a good shooter, Booker never has a play set for him where he runs of off-ball screens just like Reddick and Thompson do. I feel Watson’s playbook is similar to a high school coach’s lol. He does not at all utilize Booker well and I hope they fire him at the end of the seaosn.

 Considering how rare it is for players to average 25-30 points per game, I don’t see either one doing it for a good team. So few players do that and I don’t think either of them are that type of scoring machine. 

Both can certainly fill it up and I agree with the poster who said 22 ppg might be reasonable but on a good team, neither of those guys are going to be asked/capable of putting up 30 a night. 

I don’t really differentiate between shooting guards and small forwards, so I have no idea if "top 5 at his position" is doable for either of them either. I’ve always had lower expectations for Lavine given his propensity to take horrible shots and play negative defense but he’s been impressive this season for sure. I used to think his best role might’ve been the Jamal Crawford/Jason Terry 6th man type but it’s hard to argue against what he’s done this season.