After a lengthy off-season contract dispute, the Phoenix Suns signed Eric Bledsoe last summer and he gave them a strong season — 17 points and 6.1 assists a game, he led the team in Win Shares (seven) and had the highest PER of any player on the roster at the end of the season.
However, the Suns are shopping him around as we head into the NBA Draft Thursday, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News — and that’s starting with trying to get the No. 4 pick from the Knicks.
Remember a year ago when the problem was the Suns had too many good point guards? They had Goran Dragic but traded him to Miami, and they sent fan favorite Isaiah Thomas to Boston. That left Bledsoe as the last man standing, but now he may be shipped off this summer as well. GM Ryan McDonough has decided to strip this thing down as part of his rebuild. He did acquire Brandon Knight as a point guard in all those trades, but Knight struggled after the trade.
The Suns may move Bledsoe, but I can’t see the Knicks as a good fit — a ball-dominant point guard is not what is needed in the triangle offense. Bledsoe is strong attacking off the dribble but he lacks a good enough outside shot (32.4 percent from three last season, not much better on longer twos) to space the floor the way the offense needs. If the Knicks remain committed to the triangle — and Phil Jackson says they are — then Bledsoe is not their guy.
That said, Bledsoe may well be somebody else’s guy this summer.