Ranking the top 5 NBA stars at the peak of their prime years in the Association
Ranking the top 5 NBA stars that are at the peak of their prime basketball years.
As NBA players enter their age-25 seasons, they are usually seasoned and have defined and etched out where their career paths will lead them. These exciting players look to add to their legacies and some hope to one day capture an NBA championship along the way. In this article, we'll rank the top 5 players in the NBA ages 25 to 30 - or at the peak of their prime years in the Association.
5. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker is one of the NBA's best pure scorers who can offensively do it all. He can pick apart opposing defenses in ways not many players can replicate. He makes impossible fades over his defender look effortless, and can get his shot off from anywhere on the floor. On nights when his shots are falling, he is very capable of putting up big numbers of historic proportions. At this stage in his career, Booker is good enough to win a ring as a clear second option while playing alongside Kevin Durant.
The only area where Booker is particularly lacking is defense, but he's a reasonably hard worker on that end of the floor and he will hustle. He is surrounded by shooters who are streaky like himself, but the Phoenix Suns organization could consider pairing Booker with a playmaking guard who could play a role similar to the one Chris Paul had because that is when he played the best basketball of his career. Despite having some monster-scoring games on his resume, Booker has never really been able to take it to the next level as a scorer. He has been stuck in that 24 to 27-point-per-game range in an era where the truly elite scorers are averaging at least 30 points per game.
For a player who is considered to be a sniper, and playing in an era where spacing and analytics play a major factor, Booker is one of the top shooting guards in the NBA. He has improved every year he's been in the league and his biggest area of improvement has been his playmaking. He has also become more of an efficient scorer and added more tools to his offensive repertoire over the years.