Two huge thoughts about the Arizona sports scene: Kyler Murray is like the Tesla corporation, and the Knicks just totally flubbed their staged media coup of Devin Booker.
Let me explain.
Kyler Murray just weighed in at No. 90 on this year's NFL Top 100 list.
Murray also placed 14th in Mike Sando's annual quarterback tiers column - as voted on by 50 NFL coaches and executive - ranking him ahead of Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jared Goff and Cam Newton.
In Kyler's rookie year, his QBR, passing yards total, completion percentage and yards per attempt all ranked 15th-or-below. He also only won the Cardinals five games. So, the public investment in Kyler Murray now officially outweighs his NFL output, kind of like Elon Musks's electric car company. Tesla - which was founded in 2003 - has about $10 billion in debt, and just recently turned its first profit in Q1 of 2020. Yet, the company remains Wall Street's darling, having received about $4.2 billion in funding since 2010.
Kyler and Tesla are both clearly the future, they're both really fast and cool, and they're both overvalued at this point.
That's OK! The public support for Murray hints at his national prominence, and the league-wide respect for him amongst coaches and executives means his play matches the hype.
“I think the kid is going to be really good,” one defensive coach said in Sando's piece, “He knows when to run, he knows when to pass, he does not turn the ball over much and that little joker can throw. They are going to be better. I’m not ready to give the kid Tier 2 yet, but I think he is a legitimate starter and he will jump fast.”
As for Devin Booker, Suns fans can relax knowing that staged coups are one of many things the Knicks can screw up royally.
That's right - James Dolan and new Knicks President (and former Devin Booker agent) Leon Rose put on the full-court press to try and stir up drama as the Suns reconvened for training camp before their trip to Orlando.
First, in late June, Stephen A. Smith - an open Knicks fanatic - openly questioned whether Booker was wasting his prime with the Suns.
Turns out, Smith was laying the groundwork for a report which surfaced two weeks later on SNY claiming Booker was unhappy that the Suns didn't sign D'Angelo Russell in free agency during the summer of 2019.
This type of pot-stirring is a classic NBA coup d'etat, and I'll bet Leon Rose orchestrated it. Unfortunately, he just disassembled it as well.
There's no way Devin Booker wants to play for Tom Thibodeau. In fact, I think it's high time that the Suns launch a counter-coup, leaking that RJ Barrett's feet already hurt. Overworking his players is Tom Thibadeau's brand, which is, you know, the opposite of what works in 2020. In fact, I'm not sure it ever worked. NBA coaching has always been about managing egos more than managing lineups. Just ask Steve Kerr, Greg Popovich or Phil Jackson.
The Knicks had so much going for them. Sports media personalities desperate for controversy, the fact that Devin Booker is now involved with Kendall Jenner (she's big-time, the Suns feel small), Leon Rose. But, in classic Knicks fashion, they screwed it up by hiring the NBA's version of Tom Coughlin.
Such is life.