Trevor Booker: The key to the Washington Wizards
Trevor Booker knows all about struggles. During his formative years in rough and tumble Union, South Carolina he quickly learned that nothing comes easy.
In those days as a prep he averaged 22 points, 16.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the Union High Yellow Jackets, yet never won a state championship despite relatively thin competition in the football-first state.
In a part of the state largely considered dangerous, Booker became an outstanding role model for kids of the area and continues to do so today. So much so, in fact, that nearby Mauldin has decided to present him with a key to the city.
After graduating in 2006, Booker proceeded to play four years at Clemson, gaining recognition in the eyes of NBA scouts as a reliable role player at the professional level. He made enough of an impact to warrant consideration but was far from a guaranteed first-round pick.
Booker’s teams never advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament at Clemson, and by the time the 2010 Draft rolled around, experts had him pegged as a late second-round pick with a chance of moving up due to his work ethic and high basketball IQ.
In a move that surprised many, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Booker with the 23rd-overall pick, but immediately shipped his rights to Washington for Lazar Hayward and Nmanja Bjelica, a foreign player stashed overseas. Although scouts and GMs liked Booker’s attitude and athleticism, many saw the selection as a Grade-A David Kahn stretch, and even the Clemson faithful were pleasantly surprised.
Facing doubt from the first day of his NBA career, Booker settled right in with Washington, a franchise seemingly trapped in a cycle of on and off the court struggles.
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His summer camp numbers – just a hair over 8 points and 4 rebounds per game – were mediocre, but Booker took advantage of the opportunity to play alongside fellow rookie John Wall, filling highlight reels and hinting at their chemistry on the court down the road.
Booker’s relentless effort never gave out during the season, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the Wizards faithful, even if their abysmal road record and “Andray Blatche being Andray Blatche” dominated the headlines.
“Part of what attracted fans to Booker was that his spark provided a nice change of pace to the sheer laziness of Andray Blatche and the unrestrained stupidity of JaVale McGee,” says Truth About It founder and editor Kyle Weidie.
Perhaps due to his experience dealing with undersized, outmatched and at times underachieving clubs in the past, Booker was prepared to step in at the NBA level and make an impact on the Wizards right away, but he’s not done improving just yet.
Before a season-ending injury in March, Booker had apparently won coach Flip Saunders’ approval, starting 14 games and finishing the season playing 16.4 minutes a game off of the bench.
“He knows he needs to improve his three-spot skills to stay on the court, mostly in terms of who he can defend, but a vast improvement in his jumper would be a huge bonus,” says Weidie. “Because if the Wizards could start him (or play him a lot) at the three, it might often create mis-matches of defenders that Booker can abuse in the post.”
Booker’s true statistical impact is noticed with a look at more advanced stats. He finished with a PER of 15.3, similar to that of Jason Terry in the regular season. He shot a True Shooting Percentage of .582 (J.J. Redick? .589) and hauled down 13.5% of available rebounds (Chris Bosh – 13.6%).
But numbers only tell half the story, no matter how advanced. It’s a reality that in all likelihood probably helps Booker more than harms him.
“Booker is certainly an on-the-floor example,” says Weidie. “The Wizards are desperate for someone to play with consistent energy and hustle, someone who is willing to plant himself near the rim to snag rebounds, and I get the feeling that Booker knows this.”
If Booker can bounce back from the foot injury that shortened his rookie campaign an opportunity exists from him to show up and provide consistent on-and-off-the-floor leadership for a franchise that could benefit from both.
Who knows, maybe one day he’ll even earn the key to Washington.
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