After a game of cat and mouse through much of last summer, the Phoenix Suns committed to Eric Bledsoe — five years, $70 million. He responded by giving them a good season, averaging 17 points and 6.1 assists a game, leading the team in Win Shares (seven) and he had the highest PER of any player on the roster at the end of the season.
So, now the Suns want out of the Bledsoe business.
Phoenix is reportedly going to sign Brandon Knight to a $70 million contract this summer, and if that happens you can bet they don’t want to high-priced point guards and Bledsoe will be on the block. Marc Stein of ESPN put it this way:
As discussed on tonight's NBA Insiders on @ESPNRadio, there's a growing feeling around the league that Phoenix will seriously explore (1/2)
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 29, 2015
That Suns will seriously explore their Eric Bledsoe trade options if they indeed strikes the deal w/B-Knight that @GeryWoelfel is reporting
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 29, 2015
It sounds like the Suns do not want to try and recreate the two point guard success they had with Bledsoe and Goran Dragic, just slotting Knight in there. Catching that lightning in a bottle twice was always going to be difficult to do. But do the Suns want to bet on Knight over Bledsoe? Interesting choice. And by interesting, I mean not the choice I would make. It’s simple here, Bledsoe is the better player.
If the Suns want to move Bledsoe, there will be interested trading partners, but you’d have to think the Suns would keep the price high.