Warriors Love Devin Booker — but Phoenix Still Holds All the Leverage
GOATIFYGolden State has spent years searching for the next star who can extend Stephen Curry’s championship window. The newest name attached to that search is Devin Booker.
This is not an active trade negotiation. Phoenix has repeatedly positioned Booker as the centerpiece of its future. But Golden State reportedly would be ready to move quickly if that stance ever changed, with future first-round picks giving the Warriors a potential path into the conversation.
Golden State’s interest is easy to understand
Booker would solve a problem Golden State has been trying to solve around Curry: finding another elite perimeter scorer who can create without needing the offense built entirely around him. Booker can run pick-and-rolls, attack switches, score in the midrange and work away from the ball. That versatility is especially valuable next to Curry, whose movement constantly distorts a defense.
There is also a relationship already in place. Booker played under Steve Kerr with Team USA, and Curry has shared high-level international basketball with him. That does not make a trade likely, but it removes one uncertainty that often comes with chasing a superstar.
The biggest obstacle is still Phoenix
Booker is under long-term control after signing a two-year, $145 million extension in 2025, and Phoenix has publicly treated him as the player around whom the next version of the Suns will be built. That matters more than Golden State’s interest. A team can be first in line for a player and still never get a chance to make an offer.
Phoenix has little incentive to rush. Booker is 29, remains one of the league’s premier scoring guards and has spent his entire NBA career with the franchise. If the Suns believe they can retool around him, moving him for draft capital would represent a full strategic reset rather than a normal roster adjustment.
That is why the Warriors’ reported willingness to put multiple first-round picks on the table is significant without being decisive. Those picks become truly valuable only if Phoenix decides it wants a different timeline.
Curry changes the urgency for the Warriors
Golden State’s side is different. Every season with Curry still playing at an elite level carries enormous value, and waiting indefinitely for the perfect star can be its own risk. The Warriors have already been connected to ambitious pursuits of other elite names. Booker fits the same basic idea: spend future assets to maximize the present.
A Curry-Booker pairing would give Golden State two guards capable of exploding for huge scoring nights while forcing defenses to choose where to send help. It could also make life easier for the rest of the roster by creating cleaner shots and reducing possessions that depend on Curry manufacturing something late in the clock.
But the Warriors cannot create availability. Until Phoenix opens that door, this remains a revealing piece of future planning rather than a transaction on the verge of happening.
The story is whether Phoenix’s stance ever changes
The meaningful takeaway is not that Booker is headed to the Bay Area. It is that Golden State appears to have identified him as the kind of player worth spending major draft capital on if circumstances change.
If Phoenix starts well, this story may disappear quickly. If the Suns struggle and eventually decide a deeper reset is necessary, the Warriors’ position becomes much more interesting. Golden State would not be alone in chasing a player of Booker’s caliber, but its combination of picks, Curry, Kerr and championship urgency would make it one of the most logical teams to call.
The fit is obvious. The relationship is already there. The draft assets can be discussed. The one thing Golden State does not control is the only thing that matters right now: whether Phoenix ever decides Devin Booker is actually available.
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