There is no doubt that Devin Booker could end up being the Phoenix Suns’ best player of all time. The superstar has been with the franchise since being signed in the 2015 NBA Draft.

These days are full of highlights in the Valley — including the run to the 2021 NBA Finals — not to mention a teammate in Kevin Durant, giving Booker a chance to win it all. There were plenty of dark days before that, too — from three-headed point guards to whatever Josh Jackson was — and Booker was the lone bright spot then, too.

And that is exactly it Rob Mahoney of The Ringer called Booker out on a podcast where he discussed the US national team’s Olympic adventure in Paris. Just seven minutes in, Mahoney described Booker as a motion shooter when talking about the impact – or lack of impact until the semifinal against Serbia – that Stephen Curry had for his country in Paris.

His comparison of the two was based on the way they move around the court and help their teammates in the process. Mahoney said, “I mean, he (Curry) still makes Team USA better with his movement, he offers that group something that basically nobody else does, maybe aside from Devin Booker… a motion shooter that they need for their spacing.”

That’s a view of Booker that we haven’t really seen yet. The Suns certainly prefer him to have the ball in his hands more often and create for himself and others. But that could also explain why Booker didn’t work as the team’s point guard last season, as he does his best work when he’s moving around the court and popping up elsewhere to get a clear view.

The fact that Booker can do something like that for the US team really says a lot about his qualities. Last season he averaged a career-high 6.7 assists per game for the Suns. The fact that he did it while missing his backcourt teammate and supposedly other point guard Bradley Beal was even more impressive.

Mahoney may have discovered something else here, namely the fact that Booker has firmly secured a place in the final group of the U.S. team. Despite being knocked out of the playoffs in the opening round last season, he is now in the deciding phase while recent NBA champion Jayson Tatum is getting DNPs.

Maybe that’s because, unlike Tatum, Booker has no problem having the ball in his hands and will take whatever he’s given on any given night while playing on perhaps the best team ever assembled. Being compared to Curry is a huge compliment considering his style of play basically changed the league a decade ago.

Tyus Jones is now in the Valley — and Durant is looking as good as ever this summer — so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Suns go back to this more mobile version of Booker next season. It was clearly a success for the national team and is another way one of the best players to ever wear a Suns uniform can hurt opponents.