This Phoenix Suns season wasn't always enjoyable, but don't let that overshadow the strong cases that Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have for All-NBA teams this year.

-Gerald Bourguet

All-NBA cases for Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, plus my 2024 All-NBA picks

With the end of the regular season, we get that much closer to NBA awards season! Nobody on the Phoenix Suns feels like a realistic candidate for the league's main individual awards, but Kevin Durant and Devin Booker both have strong cases for the 2023-24 All-NBA teams.

With a First Team, Second Team and Third Team each composed of five players, All-NBA teams recognize 15 of the top players in the league. The format has slightly tweaked this year, abandoning the old designations of two guards, two forwards and one center per team, instead making them completely position-less.

It's an interesting tweak that will theoretically encourage voters to choose their 15 best players in the league, rather than shoehorn an extra center in there just to fit the positional designations.

Another factor in this year's voting -- and one that eliminates guys like Joel Embiid and Donovan Mitchell -- is the 65-game minimum to qualify for awards. Booker (68 games) and Durant (75 games) both met the criterion, but this over-reactionary rule narrows down the playing field a bit.

According to Suns coach Frank Vogel, it should be pretty simple when it comes to his superstars.

“First Team," he said bluntly. "I don’t think I have to say anything more than that. Am I getting a vote here? First Team All-NBA, both of those guys.”

Unfortunately, Vogel doesn't get a vote, and it remains to be seen whether they both earn All-NBA selections.

Surveying a pool of All-NBA picks and predictions, Durant feels like a no-brainer for the 11th All-NBA selection of his career. Looking at 10 different sets of picks made by The Ringer, CBS Sports, Forbes, Sporting News, Yahoo! Sports and NBA.com, KD was on every single imaginary ballot, making Second Team on nine of them and Third Team on the other.

Booker, however, may be closer to the fringes. Of those 10 All-NBA ballots, he only made it onto five of them, and all five were Third Team selections. These results are irrelevant to what the actual voting numbers will look like, but they speak to A) how deep the league's talent pool is and B) how Booker is somehow still being overlooked in these conversations.

But that's why we're here! So without further ado, let's inspect their cases for All-NBA before submitting our own picks.

Kevin Durant's All-NBA case

KD's case is pretty ironclad. He probably won't crack the First Team, since MVP candidates like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Nikola Jokic will probably lock up those spots.

But it's hard to imagine him dropping any lower than Second Team, especially in the middle of such a resurgent season. Nobody in NBA history has had a better season at age 35 outside of LeBron James, and his durability deserves appreciation. Durant has not only played in his most games in a season since before his 2019 Achilles injury, but he's also fifth in the league in minutes per game (37.2).

As the heavy minutes totals suggest, Durant has had to do a lot of heavy lifting on both ends for a Suns team that only got 41 games out of the Big 3. With Bradley Beal missing extended time and Booker out for a few games earlier in the season, KD carried the offense with some remarkable one-man performances while also doubling as their most versatile defender on the other end.

Durant averaged 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 blocks per game, ranking fifth in scoring and 12th in blocks among all players who qualified for awards season (min. 65 games).

He was absurdly efficient, shooting 52.3 percent from the field, 41.3 percent from 3-point range, 85.6 percent from the foul line, 77.4 percent at the rim and 51.8 percent on long 2s.

As Forbes' Shane Young pointed out, Durant joined Kawhi Leonard as the only players in the NBA to average at least 23 points per game while shooting 55 percent on 2s and 40 percent on 3s -- a feat that had only happened 11 times in league history before this season.

In fact, there are only five instances in NBA history where a player put up a 27-6-5 stat line on 50 percent shooting overall and 40 percent shooting from deep: Larry Bird three separate times, Kevin Durant last year, and Kevin Durant this year.

Despite all the talk -- sometimes justified, sometimes vastly overblown -- about leadership and body language, he was the Suns' best and most consistent player on the court. Durant tackled all types of primary defensive assignments in the backcourt, on the wing and even against bigs in small-ball lineups, and while he's unlikely to make an All-Defensive team, he has a legitimate case because of his secondary rim protection and versatility against opponents' top scorers.

And that's all while being a generational scorer, unwavering source of efficiency and constant summoner of double-teams on offense.

This is a no-brainer, and anyone putting Durant lower than Second Team All-NBA needs to thoroughly explain their thought process so the rest of us can show them exactly where they went wrong.

Devin Booker's All-NBA case

It's remarkable we even have to explain this, but leaving out someone who averaged a 27-7-4 stat line on 61.1 percent true shooting is bad! As a matter of fact, Booker's stat line of 27.1 points, 6.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game on 61.1 percent true shooting has only been matched by Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, James Harden (four times), LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic (this season), per Stathead.

And guess what? In the nine prior instances, that player made an All-NBA team every single time, with eight First Team selections and one Third Team selection. Doncic will add to that total as a First-Team pick this year to make it 10-for-10, and if Dame Lillard was able squeak out a Third Team selection on a 33-win Portland Trail Blazers squad, Devin Booker should make it 11-for-11. Leaving him out in the cold would be criminal.

Among all players who met the 65-game minimum, Booker ranked sixth in points and 10th in assists per game, joining Jokic and Doncic as the only players to crack the top-10 in both categories. Even if you throw out the 65-game minimum and focus just on players who qualified for the leaderboards in each category, Book still ranked sixth in scoring and 11th in assists.

He did all that while shooting 49.2 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from deep and 88.6 percent from the foul line, giving him the second-best true shooting percentage of his career. He was lethal on offense from every angle:

The crazy part is he did all this while managing dual roles for a Suns team playing without a traditional point guard. Not only did Booker continue to be one of the most dangerous scorers in the league, joining Doncic, Giannis, Joel Embiid, Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxey as the only players with multiple 50-point games this season, but he doubled as the lead initiator for a top-10 offense.

Striking the balance between those two responsibilities wasn't always smooth, but Booker still managed to put up 27 points and 7 assists a night, creating offense and getting off the ball early when he was doubled to keep it moving -- an unselfish trait evidenced by his 1.2 secondary assists per game, which ranked sixth in the NBA.

In total, Booker ranked third in the league in self-created shooting talent, top-five in pick-and-roll scoring including passes, and 13th in total points accounted for (points plus assist points). Notice how the only players ahead of him on that list are sure-fire All-NBA guys, point guards, or fringe All-NBA candidates who simply played more games than Booker:

Luka Doncic: 4,097 total points created in 70 games
Nikola Jokic: 3,792 in 79 games
Jalen Brunson: 3,565 in 77 games
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 3,528 in 73 games
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 3,482 in 75 games
Tyrese Haliburton: 3,352 in 69 games
Domantas Sabonis: 3,315 in 82 games
LeBron James: 3,199 in 71 games
Anthony Edwards: 3,124 in 79 games
Damian Lillard: 3,080 in 73 games
Dejounte Murray: 3,070 in 78 games
DeAaron Fox: 3,036 in 74 games
Devin Booker: 3,028 in 68 games
Kevin Durant: 2,988 in 75 games
DeMar DeRozan: 2,949 in 79 games
Jayson Tatum: 2,937 in 74 games
Paolo Banchero: 2,928 in 80 games
Tyrese Maxey: 2,924 in 70 games
Stephen Curry: 2,873 in 74 games
Trae Young: 2,853 in 54 games

Availability is obviously an asset, but on a per-game basis, only Doncic, Jokic, Brunson, Giannis, SGA, Haliburton, LeBron and Trae accounted for more points on a nightly basis with their scoring and passing. Booker was ninth in that group -- and really, he's eighth among qualified players, since Young didn't meet the 65-game minimum.

Notice how many of these ranks lie within or right outside the top 10? Interesting that there are 15 All-NBA spots available!

To wrap up, Booker ranked just outside the top 10 in win shares this season, but navigating all of that while still ranking eighth in minutes per game speaks to how underrated his year may have been in retrospect. It certainly didn't feel as smooth as the final numbers indicated, but becoming the 11th player in NBA history to average 27 points and 6.5 assists per game on 60 percent true shooting is no small feat!

Final All-NBA picks

Keep in mind, as objective as any voter might be, there's ultimately going to be some level of subjectivity that comes into play. There is no one catch-all metric to illustrate a player's true value on the basketball court, and some people will place more stock in team success, individual numbers, on/off splits or the myriad of other ways to determine value.

But factoring in all the individual numbers, team records, shooting efficiency, defense and overall value to their team, here's who my All-NBA picks would be if I had a vote:

First Team: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic
Second Team: Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis
Third Team: Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James
Toughest omissions: Paul George, Domantas Sabonis, Rudy Gobert, Zion Williamson, De'Aaron Fox, Victor Wembanyama, Paolo Banchero

The First Team is pretty straight forward. Brunson made a push for First Team, but ultimately, the 14-game gap in the win column between Boston and New York is enough to cement Tatum's rightful spot on the First Team.

Brunson is a no-brainer as the leading man for a 50-win Knicks squad that overcame tons of injuries to key players, while Ant's superhuman production for a 56-win Wolves team merits a place on the Second Team as well. He may not have the efficiency as some of his fellow All-NBA selections, but the Timberwolves' offense plummets when he sits, and their team success pushes him ahead of some of his fellow candidates.

Durant is a no-brainer, and Kawhi remains the engine behind a Clippers squad that was the best or second-best team in the NBA for two months straight. They fizzled near the end without Leonard, but in his first (mostly) healthy season in quite a while, he looked like the robotic killer he's always been at his peak. Anthony Davis' two-way value to the Lakers can't be overlooked, since he's putting up 25 and 13 while doubling as the most dominant, versatile defender in the NBA.

Having two Lakers on the Second Team felt strange considering they're a play-in team that finished four games back from the Clippers in the standings, which is why Kawhi gets the nod over LeBron James. But there's no question the King deserves a Third Team selection for the unbelievable things he's still doing at age 39.

He and Curry are right on the precipice where a lack of team success and a slight decline in their numbers will finally start overshadowing what they've previously accomplished, but we're not quite there yet. Booker has the edge in several statistical categories over Chef Curry, but if Curry gets in on a Warriors team that finished 10th in the West, that's more ammunition for Book to get in.

Haliburton tailed off post-injury, but he was absolutely remarkable before that as a legitimate MVP candidate. His final numbers -- including his league-leading 10.9 assists per game -- on the NBA's second-ranked offense are more than deserving, and he shouldn't be punished for gutting it out through injury just to meet some stupid 65-game requirement.

He and Jaylen Brown were the most difficult choices, but it felt wrong to leave out the second co-star on a 64-win Celtics squad that pummeled its competition with a historic point differential. Instead, we're leaving out the second co-star on a 51-win Clippers squad. Paul George had a great year on both ends but doesn't quite have the statistical profile to "wow" voters.

Sabonis, Gobert and Zion were all tough omissions as well. Sabonis didn't miss a single game for the Kings, led the league in rebounding and triple-doubles, and if the league were following the old format that required three centers for its All-NBA teams, he'd be in. But the new position-less format calls for the 15 best players, and it's hard to bump Sabonis into that top-15 given his defensive flaws and Sacramento's standing as the ninth-best team in the West.

Gobert is the anchor of the stingiest defense the NBA has seen in years, but defense can only get you so far in this league. Again, the old format would've given him leeway for one of those All-NBA center spots, but bumping out hoopers like Curry, Booker, Brown, Tyrese or LeBron would feel inherently wrong given how limited Gobert is offensively.

As for Zion, there's no question his peaks can climb as high as his dunks, but the valleys -- and their frequency -- leave a lot to be desired. It was great to see him stay healthy for 70 games this season, but the next step is finding the consistency that will bump up his numbers and make him an undeniable, top-tier superstar.

Banchero's impressive leap from Year 1 to Year 2 ran parallel with the Magic's rise from 13th to fifth in the East, and that shouldn't be overlooked. But Booker posted better individual numbers and the Suns actually won two more games than Orlando, so like the rest of his fellow omissions, Banchero doesn't quite have the numbers or the team success to knock Booker off the Third Team.

TRENDING NOW

How the Suns can shrink Ant-Man's production

On the latest Bourguet Breakdown, we took an in-depth look at what the Suns defense has done so well to bottle up Anthony Edwards -- and what they'll need to carry over into the playoffs.

Read article