Suns News: The Offseason (2015)

[In2ition]

I feel like the trade rumors with Bledsoe are just rumors. They have been generated by Suns fans, as wishful thinking, and the media is reporting them as actually happening because they have nothing else to report.

[Preacherpj]

I'm surprised how quickly everyone wants to bail on Bledsoe, especially for just the #4 draft pick.

I agree with a lot of whats being said, yes he's not a #1 guy on a great team, yes he NEEDS to cut down on his turnovers, yes he can get lazy and yes he's owed big money.

But, he's also only 25 years old and when he's engaged plays a very strong two-way game with lots of upside still inside him. Talking about a kid that played more mins than all but 7 players last year, got to the line 441 times and averaged 17/6/5... those are impressive numbers for a guy who just finished his first full year as a starter. He's likely going to keep getting better, we have his prime years under control and it terms of NBA money, his contract is OK; its not great but teams have done a lot worse and with the cap going up its possible he's a bargain in a couple years.

Lets be honest, we need premium talent and Bledsoe is that type of talent, last year wasn't a good team, bad locker room and the whole thing just felt disjointed. I bet he looks better this year.

Last thing I would say is; the #4 pick in the draft is not likely to ever be as good as Eric Bledsoe, draft is a crapshoot. I know its nice to dream on potential, but sometimes the bird in the hand......

Past #4 selections;
2000 - Marcus Fizer
2001 - Eddy Curry
2002 - Drew Gooden
2003 - Chris Bosh
2004 - Shaun Livingston
2005 - Chris Paul
2006 - Tyrus Thomas
2007 - Mike Conley
2008 - Russell Westbrook
2009 - Tyreke Evans
2010 - Wes Johnson
2011 - Tristian Thompson
2012 - Dion Waiters
2013 - Cody Zeller
2014 - Aaron Gordon

So in the last 15 years; there's 3 players who are slam-dunk better than Bledsoe (Paul, Westbrook, Bosh) maybe you put Conley in there as well. I'd rather have Conley than Bled, but I don't think its necessarily a slam dunk.

You also have a laundry list of guys like Zeller, Tyrus Thomas, Dion Waiters, Wes Johnson and Fizer; people always tend to overvalue draft picks, but in reality if you're trading the Bledsoe for the #4 pick you're betting on that draft pick to put up production better than 17/6/6, chances are much higher the pick busts than the player picked produces like that.

Sure it saves money, but at some point ---- the money is there to be spent; lets not pretend like marquee free agents have been lining up in Phx to sign mega-deals, the money doesn't do any good if you can't spend it, or if its just sitting around.

Just my 2 cents; I'm certainly not against dealing Bledsoe, but just getting salary relief and the #4 pick seems like a talent loss to me.

[carey]

Good post. I don't know that I agree but well reasoned & thought out.

[In2ition]

Each draft has to be evaluated for the talent available at the time that it happened. I believe that there are more than 4 high level players in this draft, that will be better than Bledsoe, but that's just my opinion. Other drafts, such as last 5 years, I wouldn't have said that.

[In2ition]

I do think giving up the #13 along with Bledsoe is a bit too much.

[iLLmatic]

^Agreed, but I'm happy to see that Bledsoe is no longer untouchable.

[Split T]

Towns, Portzingis, and Russell are definitely better prospects than Bledsoe. I don't really like okafor, but he'll be a more valuable asset than Bledsoe. And mudiay is basically a 6'5 bledsoe. If you can get #4 for Bledsoe, you do it. I'd love Portzingis or Russell.

[Preacherpj]

I wouldn't argue that there are multiple players in this draft that have the potential to be better than Bledsoe, but that's all it is, potential. Bledsoe is a very good NBA starting guard right now; maybe you call him an A- player, maybe you call him a B- player; but he's somewhere in that range -- and he hasn't hit his prime yet. If you trade him and miss on the draft pick; which happens a TON, then you've just wasted a very valuable asset.

[In2ition]

I wouldn't argue that there are multiple players in this draft that have the potential to be better than Bledsoe, but that's all it is, potential. Bledsoe is a very good NBA starting guard right now; maybe you call him an A- player, maybe you call him a B- player; but he's somewhere in that range -- and he hasn't hit his prime yet. If you trade him and miss on the draft pick; which happens a TON, then you've just wasted a very valuable asset.

If we miss on the pick what's the worst thing that will happen? We already have rights to Knight to play the pg. I think the risk is lower because of already having Knight, and how easy it seems to find decent pgs. I don't think that Bledsoe's ceiling is much higher, if at all then his current level.

[Superbone]

You make some very good points, Preacher. It's a tricky situation we've gotten ourselves into. He's a very good player but he's not a number 1 guy on a team although he's getting paid like it. He's a great athlete but not necessarily a great basketball player. I hate the way he telegraphs his passes and jumps in the air to get himself in trouble but he's a very good penetrator. Maybe he'll figure it out in time. He doesn't have the personality to be a team leader. Maybe it would work if we had a stud SF or PF. I also understand not wanting to lose him for nothing. If I were going to put grades on him I'd say he's an A+ athlete but a B- basketball player.

[Superbone]

We also have a chemistry issue. Dragic and Bledsoe seemed to work pretty well together but I'm definitely not sold on Bledsoe and Knight as our starting backcourt.

[Preacherpj]

I wouldn't argue that there are multiple players in this draft that have the potential to be better than Bledsoe, but that's all it is, potential. Bledsoe is a very good NBA starting guard right now; maybe you call him an A- player, maybe you call him a B- player; but he's somewhere in that range -- and he hasn't hit his prime yet. If you trade him and miss on the draft pick; which happens a TON, then you've just wasted a very valuable asset.

If we miss on the pick what's the worst thing that will happen? We already have rights to Knight to play the pg. I think the risk is lower because of already having Knight, and how easy it seems to find decent pgs. I don't think that Bledsoe's ceiling is much higher, if at all then his current level.

Bledsoe has value whether we have another PG on the roster or not; you bring up a good point that we could deal Bled and move Knight over; but the fact remains that if we miss on the corresponding pick we just wasted a valuable asset.

I'd rather see the actual Knight/Bledsoe pairing together for a year before bailing on the guy. If he stays healthy he's still going to put up 17/6/6 type numbers and we can deal him in the off-season if we aren't convinced; but lets give him another year before we pull the plug. He's only 25 years old. I'd rather take the risk that there's still some more upside in Bledsoe (and his floor is 17/6/6) than roll the dice on the #4 pick becoming a player as good as Bledsoe or better.

[Preacherpj]

You make some very good points, Preacher. It's a tricky situation we've gotten ourselves into. He's a very good player but he's not a number 1 guy on a team although he's getting paid like it. He's a great athlete but not necessarily a great basketball player. I hate the way he telegraphs his passes and jumps in the air to get himself in trouble but he's a very good penetrator. Maybe he'll figure it out in time. He doesn't have the personality to be a team leader. Maybe it would work if we had a stud SF or PF. I also understand not wanting to lose him for nothing. If I were going to put grades on him I'd say he's an A+ athlete but a B- basketball player.

Agree with a lot of what you're saying; I don't think he's natural leader and his turnovers are out of control at times. He's also not a #1 guy, I agree. But the cap is going up, its entirely possibly his salary looks much more comfortable in a couple years. There's going to be some bonkers deals out there when every team gets a bunch of extra cap room.

I think its hard to be patient, but remember Bledsoe has really only had 1.5 years where he's been healthy and a starter, that's not a lot of time. I still like the upside and if he never gets better; he's still a pretty valuable player.

[In2ition]

I wouldn't argue that there are multiple players in this draft that have the potential to be better than Bledsoe, but that's all it is, potential. Bledsoe is a very good NBA starting guard right now; maybe you call him an A- player, maybe you call him a B- player; but he's somewhere in that range -- and he hasn't hit his prime yet. If you trade him and miss on the draft pick; which happens a TON, then you've just wasted a very valuable asset.

If we miss on the pick what's the worst thing that will happen? We already have rights to Knight to play the pg. I think the risk is lower because of already having Knight, and how easy it seems to find decent pgs. I don't think that Bledsoe's ceiling is much higher, if at all then his current level.

Bledsoe has value whether we have another PG on the roster or not; you bring up a good point that we could deal Bled and move Knight over; but the fact remains that if we miss on the corresponding pick we just wasted a valuable asset.

I'd rather see the actual Knight/Bledsoe pairing together for a year before bailing on the guy. If he stays healthy he's still going to put up 17/6/6 type numbers and we can deal him in the off-season if we aren't convinced; but lets give him another year before we pull the plug. He's only 25 years old. I'd rather take the risk that there's still some more upside in Bledsoe (and his floor is 17/6/6) than roll the dice on the #4 pick becoming a player as good as Bledsoe or better.

There is risk either way. If you pass on this, you risk that the player they would take becomes much better than Bledsoe. If you wait a year, you risk that next year's draft isn't as deep at the high end and the #4 pick isn't nearly as good as this year. Also, you risk that Bledsoe and Knight is a disaster or Bledsoe gets hurt, or even that you make Bledsoe your #1, but he never becomes a #1.

[In2ition]

You make some very good points, Preacher. It's a tricky situation we've gotten ourselves into. He's a very good player but he's not a number 1 guy on a team although he's getting paid like it. He's a great athlete but not necessarily a great basketball player. I hate the way he telegraphs his passes and jumps in the air to get himself in trouble but he's a very good penetrator. Maybe he'll figure it out in time. He doesn't have the personality to be a team leader. Maybe it would work if we had a stud SF or PF. I also understand not wanting to lose him for nothing. If I were going to put grades on him I'd say he's an A+ athlete but a B- basketball player.

Agree with a lot of what you're saying; I don't think he's natural leader and his turnovers are out of control at times. He's also not a #1 guy, I agree. But the cap is going up, its entirely possibly his salary looks much more comfortable in a couple years. There's going to be some bonkers deals out there when every team gets a bunch of extra cap room.

I think its hard to be patient, but remember Bledsoe has really only had 1.5 years where he's been healthy and a starter, that's not a lot of time. I still like the upside and if he never gets better; he's still a pretty valuable player.

I agree that he's a valuable player, you can't get the #4 pick if you're not a valuable player. You might be right, and this becomes a disaster of a move. It just seems like the Suns aren't going to get any better unless they can find a legitimate #1 option. How they do it, whether through the draft or free agency is up to them. If they don't get one this year, it becomes another wasted year for the Suns, IMO. Bledsoe will probably play better in NY with Melo, than here, unfortunately.

[Superbone]

Bledsoe will probably play better in NY with Melo, than here, unfortunately.

No doubt. I'm sure that's why they're interested. That would be a very good situation for Bled's talents. Which kind of goes toward Preacher's point. If we somehow landed a premier SF or PF through free agency and trades, maybe Bledsoe now looks very good here. Good luck, McD!

[Preacherpj]

Its risky either way, no doubt about it.

I'm just not sure we've given him the system and the time to know exactly what he is, what his ultimate ceiling is.

Now, I love DRussell, if someone could somehow promise me he'd be available for us at #4.... I'd like this idea a lot more, but I don't think he will be there.

[In2ition]

Given that he's been in the league for 4 years and with the Suns for 2 years, he is probably pretty close to his ceiling.

[Preacherpj]

Given that he's been in the league for 4 years and with the Suns for 2 years, he is probably pretty close to his ceiling.

Hard to say when he's only played 30+mpg twice and one of those years (last year) he lost half the season to injury.

Players get better by playing, last year was the first time in his career he played a big role for an entire season, now he gets an off-season to work on what he's hopefully learned.

[In2ition]

Given that he's been in the league for 4 years and with the Suns for 2 years, he is probably pretty close to his ceiling.

Hard to say when he's only played 30+mpg twice and one of those years (last year) he lost half the season to injury.

Players get better by playing, last year was the first time in his career he played a big role for an entire season, now he gets an off-season to work on what he's hopefully learned.

I agree and at the same time I disagree to an extent. I really think he is what he is at this point.