Bledsoe and Suns reach 5 year, $70 million deal

[jcsunsfan]

The Suns repeatedly said that they would match a visitor max contract (4/63). They did not have to do that. Sarver said on the radio here more than a month ago that 4/48 was a fair opening offer. He invited negotiation. They were clearly planning on spending more.

If Bledsoe had walked into the Suns office on the first day of free agency and said, "I know the max I can get from other teams is 15.5 per year. But I will give you a home team discount and take 14 even if you give me five years." They would have taken it immediately. Once free agency wore on and teams did not have money left, it looked like the Suns might be able to sign him cheaper. So, good deal for both sides.

[mg]

Where's Suns fan now?

I thought they wouldn't bid against themselves and that Bled was damaged goods after getting his meniscus removed? So Minny, a team over the cap, supposedly thinks he's worth a max deal and Phoenix caved.

i don't think this is what happened, for the reason i stated above.

i'm super happy about this contract. very glad Bledsoe will be back in Phoenix next year, and hopefully for a while.

a lot of Suns fans got sore because there were no negotiations, and they thought that was Bledsoe's/Rich Paul's fault. whatever happened, it's over, and it ended before training camp so-- no harm, no foul.

this is the type of fair deal most Suns fans were hoping for.

On a related note, it must be nice to be friends with LeBron (Rich Paul, Bledsoe, Tristan Thompson, etc)

[bondom34]

Random, but looked it up using ASPM/VORP, and his estimated value last season was 8.8 mil.

Does that look at totals or averages?

Totals, here's the site:

http://godismyjudgeok.com/DStats/aspm-a ... 2014-aspm/

And it's a boxscore metric, so not really the most accurate. I just kinda think its a cool idea in theory.

[bwgood77]

$15 mil per year actually isn't that bad (if he can be an all-star or borderline all-star).
The length of the contract is the part of this that might make you nervous - especially since there are already health concerns about him.

It's 14 a year. Suns started at 12. Bledsoe's agent wanted an avg of 16.8. This is pretty close to the middle. A little closer to the Suns #.

[YFZblu]

Wow, clealry Paul and Bledsoe presented some type of advantage. I wonder if Bledsoe told them he wouldn't re-sign under any circumstances if he was forced to take the player option.

[bwgood77]

But a team under the cap could offer him the max next summer if he took the QO and that's why Phoenix IMMEDIATELY ran back to the table and increased their offer after said rumors. It mattered because of what teams could do next season when he could have been an UFA.

McDonough learned under Ainge so he has similar methods and outlook. I think he probably wanted to keep all options on the table, and when he got actual offers from other teams my guess he had Rich Paul sit down and either work out a decent deal or a sign and trade. McDonough has done a good job and only in one full year. I think we need to give him some benefit of the doubt.

You and I are saying nearly the same thing. I don't actually think it's a bad deal. Bledsoe is a very good young player and I thought their initial offer was somewhat insulting.

Where I'm striking out is at the myriads who said that the Minny offer didn't matter. I (and others) knew that move would push the envelope and FAST. The Suns actually came out a little better than I expected.

Minny had nothing to do with it because they couldn't offer him money. They had no trade assets worth trading for. That was Flip doing his agent (Termini, who works with Paul) a favor, but the Bledsoe camp finally called Phx (which they hadn't done) this week because they ran out of options. They came down to 15 a year, Suns went up to 13 a year, then they settled at 14 a year, which was what Suns fans thought would be the result. Phx wasn't just going to up their offer for no reason until Bledsoe's camp decided to sit down and talk and they finally did this week.

[bwgood77]

People scoffed at me when I said the Suns were going to resign Bledsoe closer to the max than their original offer. I think that Bledsoe's side and the Suns were playing contract chicken, and the Suns were going to cave first. Just had a hunch.

Healthy Bledsoe is an excellent player (probably not a max one though). The problem is that he's hurt pretty often.

I'm kind of excited to watch Suns games though. All that athleticism and guard play will be fun to watch.

It's not closer to the max on a per year basis. Max averages 16.8 a year. Suns started at 12 a year. Final deal at 14 a year. They met close to the middle, a little closer to Phx #. If they were willing to give him 14 a year, they must not be worried about his injuries, and I trust their medical straff, so as a Suns fan I'm glad they added the extra year to lock him up for longer because contracts will go up signficantly in two years.

[Kerrsed]

Minny had nothing to do with it because they couldn't offer him money. They had no trade assets worth trading for. That was Flip doing his agent (Termini, who works with Paul) a favor, but the Bledsoe camp finally called Phx (which they hadn't done) this week because they ran out of options. They came down to 15 a year, Suns went up to 13 a year, then they settled at 14 a year, which was what Suns fans thought would be the result. Phx wasn't just going to up their offer for no reason until Bledsoe's camp decided to sit down and talk and they finally did this week.

+100000000000

It was less about the Wolves offer (which one of our sources said happened about a week before the media finally reported on it), and had more to do with Bledsoe and Rich Paul not budging from a max deal and refusing to talk to the Suns, running out of options and more importantly running out of time.

[Flying Colors]

What type of production minimum do we need to see in order for this to be consider a fair contract?

When we're talking about a max contract, the main stat I'd be interested in is Wins.

Suns were not lacking in that regard last season , the only reason they did not make the playoffs is because they play in a damn near historic western conference

[bwgood77]

So, does this mean they're going to try to trade Dragic and just stick with Bledsoe? Or are they going to invest $40 + mil a year on point guards starting next year?

No, they play at a 54 game win pace with both, a 43 win pace with just Dragic, and a 37 win pace with just Bledsoe. They like playing them together, and will re-sign Dragic.

[DoubleLintendre]

People scoffed at me when I said the Suns were going to resign Bledsoe closer to the max than their original offer. I think that Bledsoe's side and the Suns were playing contract chicken, and the Suns were going to cave first. Just had a hunch.

Healthy Bledsoe is an excellent player (probably not a max one though). The problem is that he's hurt pretty often.

I'm kind of excited to watch Suns games though. All that athleticism and guard play will be fun to watch.

It's not closer to the max on a per year basis. Max averages 16.8 a year. Suns started at 12 a year. Final deal at 14 a year. They met close to the middle, a little closer to Phx #. If they were willing to give him 14 a year, they must not be worried about his injuries, and I trust their medical straff, so as a Suns fan I'm glad they added the extra year to lock him up for longer because contracts will go up signficantly in two years.

By closer, I meant closer then they were at with the 12 million offer. I was suggesting that Bledsoe's party was going to squeeze out a few extra million person season through negotiations-- which they did with an additional 2 million per season.

[bwgood77]

Where's Suns fan now?

I thought they wouldn't bid against themselves and that Bled was damaged goods after getting his meniscus removed? So Minny, a team over the cap, supposedly thinks he's worth a max deal and Phoenix caved.

They didn't. They negotiated. Bledsoe's camp finally sat down and they met in the middle (a little closer to the Suns per year # than the max per year avg)

[bwgood77]

this is the type of fair deal most Suns fans were hoping for.

Tbh, I think you guys gave more than a fair deal to him with 4 yr / 48m.

That was a sound deal imo.

If things we’re getting tough, maybe push that up to 4 yr / 52m, raising his salary from 12m annually to 13m, but I don’t like that 5th year as well as the jump to 14m annually.

If he didn’t have injury concerns then fair enough, but that meniscus issue could become bigger down the line.

Dragic will also want a similar deal, if not more.

Are the Suns prepared to pay 14m to both their starting guards and 7m to their back up? That’s potentially 35m on 3 guards on the roster. It’s ok now whilst you have others on cheaper deals, particularly the Morris twins and Plumlee.

If the plan for the Suns is to keep him long term, I don’t get it. If the plan is to resign him now and move him at a later date so you don’t lose him for nothing, then I can understand this move.

I was initially worried that the Suns wouldn't want to pay close to $30 million a year for both, but apparently they are and they are going to keep Dragic. This is part of the reason they are signing his brother to a two year deal. Next year Goran will sign a similar deal or perhaps a little more.

[alldayeveryday]

Half of the RealGM members giving their opinions on this topic are just as clueless as Brian Windhorst.

[bwgood77]

People scoffed at me when I said the Suns were going to resign Bledsoe closer to the max than their original offer. I think that Bledsoe's side and the Suns were playing contract chicken, and the Suns were going to cave first. Just had a hunch.

Healthy Bledsoe is an excellent player (probably not a max one though). The problem is that he's hurt pretty often.

I'm kind of excited to watch Suns games though. All that athleticism and guard play will be fun to watch.

It's not closer to the max on a per year basis. Max averages 16.8 a year. Suns started at 12 a year. Final deal at 14 a year. They met close to the middle, a little closer to Phx #. If they were willing to give him 14 a year, they must not be worried about his injuries, and I trust their medical straff, so as a Suns fan I'm glad they added the extra year to lock him up for longer because contracts will go up signficantly in two years.

By closer, I meant closer then they were at with the 12 million offer. I was suggesting that Bledsoe's party was going to squeeze out a few extra million person season through negotiations-- which they did with an additional 2 million per season.

Phx was expecting that, but kept saying they wanted to sit down and talk but hadn't heard from them. Sarver came out and said he's willing to negotiate but that they hadn't heard from Bledsoe's camp. All they did was continue to leak they wanted max of 5/84. Once they sat down they met near the middle.

[bwgood77]

What type of production minimum do we need to see in order for this to be consider a fair contract?

When we're talking about a max contract, the main stat I'd be interested in is Wins.

Suns were not lacking in that regard last season , the only reason they did not make the playoffs is because they play in a damn near historic western conference

Well, and because Bledsoe missed half the season. They played at a 54 win pace with him and Dragic. So they make playoffs with healthy Bledsoe and are mostly young players improving.

[cmw17]

WTF!?!? Whattthe hell was the point of holding out then? Now they have all those PG and all that money tied in? Wouldn't the logical thing to do is use that money for another position? New management, same old suns....

[kingkirk]

I was initially worried that the Suns wouldn't want to pay close to $30 million a year for both, but apparently they are and they are going to keep Dragic. This is part of the reason they are signing his brother to a two year deal. Next year Goran will sign a similar deal or perhaps a little more.

Have you guys landed Zoran?

I hope so, as i'd love to see them both play together. Should that happen, with Ennis also on board, i really don't see the need for Thomas.

He is on a good deal and would be movable when possible. That 7m could be used elsewhere.

[Effigy]

Where's Suns fan now?

I thought they wouldn't bid against themselves and that Bled was damaged goods after getting his meniscus removed? So Minny, a team over the cap, supposedly thinks he's worth a max deal and Phoenix caved.

They didn't. They negotiated. Bledsoe's camp finally sat down and they met in the middle (a little closer to the Suns per year # than the max per year avg)

The Middle? The Suns were offering 4 years $44 million. Bledsoe wanted 5 years $80 million. 5 years $70 million is MUCH closer to what Bledsoe was asking for.

Holy crap this is such an awful contract. I think Phoenix is really going to regret this contract in 2 years. I hope it pans out and he gets healthy, I really do, but I just don't see it. This s a strong candidate for the worst contract in the league and easily the worst contract of the off season.

What I don't understand is this line here: "The Wolves were prepared to give Bledsoe a four-year deal worth more than $60 million in such a trade, which strengthened Bledsoe's position that he would be a commodity in the market next year." If this is the case, why in god's name didn't Phoenix just up their offer to 4 years $60 million and be done with it? I without question would not have offered that fifth year. No other team than Phoenix could give the fifth year! Why did they bid against themselves? If no team could offer more than 4 years and $60 million, why would Phoenix offer more? He would have taken it. He's not going to take the qualifying offer, turn down $8 million or whatever it is in the first year, and take the risk that he can't get a 4 year $60 million contract next year when one is already being offered to him now. This just seems incredibly stupid. I'm shocked that Phoenix blinked first. I really thought they were handling this exactly right up until this point.

[gaspar]

ITT: Bledsoe underrated, injury risk overblown.