According to Shams, Booker's 2-year maximum salary of $145 million was renewed early, creating the highest average annual salary in the NBA in "early renewal" (72.5 million, before Alexander had an average of 71.25 million). ESPN data analyst Kevin Pelton posted a statement saying that Booker does not deserve so much salary, and the following is some of the content.
No need to check advanced statistics, Booker is likely not worthy of receiving a salary of more than $70 million. Although he played 75 games last season, his highest number of appearances since the 2016-17 season, Booker was neither selected as the All-Star nor the NBA All-Squad. He has only been selected for the NBA All-A-Level Team twice in his career and has only won one MVP vote. (Only in the 2021-22 season, Booker ranked fourth in the voting and was selected as the first team of the NBA All-NBA Team.)
At his peak, Booker was more like a top 25 player in the NBA than a top 10. He was almost 32 when the contract renewal came into effect, but he should still be a strong contender for the All-Stars, but Booker is more likely to be a complement to the Suns than to the core.
The Suns traded Kevin Durant and considered buying out Bill's contract. They valued a star who was willing to stay on the team. This is conceivable. Booker's loyalty did not translate into any form of salary concession. The Suns agreed to renew the contract with a long time left in Booker's existing contract, which was taking considerable risks.
A key question in evaluating any contract renewal is whether players will have better transaction value after signing the contract. Since Booker will receive the highest salary in two seasons of his contract extension, he will not be able to be traded within six months. As far as Booker’s current contract is concerned, he may be more valuable to other teams.
The Suns are still hoping to build a competitive team around Booker. If the Suns missed draft picks and Bill's possible renewal period doom them to stay in the lottery zone, then Booker's commitment to the team or his trade value may be tested before the renewal begins.
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