Should the Suns match a max contract offer for Eric Bledsoe?

[Revived]

Only thing I disagree with many of you on is Bledsoe taking a paycut.

This isn't Miami. Even if he takes a paycut, we aren't contenders next season.

Secondly, this Bledsoe's first big contract. And he isn't like LeBron or Wade who make millions off endorsements. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Bledsoe wanting max and not taking a pay cut after playing the past 5 years on a dirt cheap contract. If this was Bledsoe's 2nd big contract, then I'd agree. But this is gonna be his first and there's no reason for him to take a paycut.

And I know for fact that none of us would do it if we were in his situation and watched his peers like Wall, Cousins, etc all making that max money.

I'm not saying he deserves max money but if he gets offered one, there's no reason for him to turn it down and take a paycut to stay in PHX. He's just 24 years old.

[NaturalBuns]

Dragic isn't going to have numbers like this year if Bledsoe doesn't miss significant time.
If anything 10-12mil for dragic. If he has another career year 12-14 most teams wont do that though with Westbrook and curry FAs the following year

[SunsFan1234]

I wonder if Orlando would be willing to deal the 4th.

Bledsoe + 18 for Afflalo + 4.

Bledsoe gives them their PG and don't have to take a risk with Exum and Olidipo/Bledsoe backcourt would be nasty.

Suns get Afflalo, a solid defensive minded 2 who can knock down the open 3 and pick up the 4th pick and go after a big Noah Vonleh or Gordon.

[JDLAW]

I wonder if Orlando would be willing to deal the 4th.

Bledsoe + 18 for Afflalo + 4.

Bledsoe gives them their PG and don't have to take a risk with Exum and Olidipo/Bledsoe backcourt would be nasty.

Suns get Afflalo, a solid defensive minded 2 who can knock down the open 3 and pick up the 4th pick and go after a big Noah Vonleh or Gordon.

Cannot do it - under the CBA. Bledsoe cannot be traded at this point.

[JDLAW]

Dragic isn't going to have numbers like this year if Bledsoe doesn't miss significant time.
If anything 10-12mil for dragic. If he has another career year 12-14 most teams wont do that though with Westbrook and curry FAs the following year

Disagree - you have no way of knowing what Dragic's numbers would be with Bledsoe in the line up for additional games.

[thamadkant]

I hope suns FO learnt from the past..
- Joe Johnson
- Shawn Marion

And of course Amare...


Arguably 2/3 of those players they got wrong...

Marion 7 years after asking for Max is still a top 5 defender at his position and arguably above average player overall.
Would of been 18/10/1.5/1.5 throughout his max contract year IMO...

I feel similar with Bledsoe.... He could be 20/7/2.5 PG for the next 5 years...

You keep that player at any cost... And you try to make moves somewhere else..


With that said Suns FO now are different from back then...



Also Dragic had an awesome fantastic year... Who is a Eligible for extension next season...
He would also command max or near max...

Cannot have two max players of the same position... I can't see it.

[RunDogGun]

And he could have another knee injury taking him out for a full season. Lots of "could"s. You don't throw max or near max at what a guy could be. They either prove they should get that money, or they don't.

As for people continuing to trade guys that are not currently under contract or on a ETO, please research before you post, thank you.

As for Goran not putting up similar numbers with Bledsoe, meh. So he went from 19 points per game with Bledsoe to 20+. We had so many guys do their best ISO plays all season, so assists meant squat. I think we were one of the worst teams in assisted plays.

[NaturalBuns]

Dragic isn't going to have numbers like this year if Bledsoe doesn't miss significant time.
If anything 10-12mil for dragic. If he has another career year 12-14 most teams wont do that though with Westbrook and curry FAs the following year

Disagree - you have no way of knowing what Dragic's numbers would be with Bledsoe in the line up for additional games.

Lol

[RunDogGun]

Dragic isn't going to have numbers like this year if Bledsoe doesn't miss significant time.
If anything 10-12mil for dragic. If he has another career year 12-14 most teams wont do that though with Westbrook and curry FAs the following year

Disagree - you have no way of knowing what Dragic's numbers would be with Bledsoe in the line up for additional games.

Lol

What are you laughing about?

[NaturalBuns]

Disagree - you have no way of knowing what Dragic's numbers would be with Bledsoe in the line up for additional games.

Lol

What are you laughing about?

What do you think dragic is worth 17mil?
Think not then curry,west are worth 20.

Your looking at 10-14 depending how his year goes

Curry is getting 12 currently
West 17 currently

[RunDogGun]

Lol

What are you laughing about?

What do you think dragic is worth 17mil?
Think not then curry,west are worth 20.

Your looking at 10-14 depending how his year goes

That has nothing to do with the numbers Goran put up when Bledsoe was playing with him, which you seem to think are dramatically worse than when Bledsoe went down. Goran was averaging 19 points a game with Bledsoe, and ended with 20.3. Absolutely no way to assume Goran couldn't do what he did last year with Eric. So I don't know why you would laughing at someone shooting holes in your lack of researching.

As of right now, Goran runs the team better than Eric, so I think he should get more money.

[NaturalBuns]

What are you laughing about?

What do you think dragic is worth 17mil?
Think not then curry,west are worth 20.

Your looking at 10-14 depending how his year goes

That has nothing to do with the numbers Goran put up when Bledsoe was playing with him, which you seem to think are dramatically worse than when Bledsoe went down. Goran was averaging 19 points a game with Bledsoe, and ended with 20.3. Absolutely no way to assume Goran couldn't do what he did last year with Eric. So I don't know why you would laughing at someone shooting holes in your lack of researching.

As of right now, Goran runs the team better than Eric, so I think he should get more money.

We will see at the end of the day 15mil for dragic seems unlikely

[RunDogGun]

What do you think dragic is worth 17mil?
Think not then curry,west are worth 20.

Your looking at 10-14 depending how his year goes

That has nothing to do with the numbers Goran put up when Bledsoe was playing with him, which you seem to think are dramatically worse than when Bledsoe went down. Goran was averaging 19 points a game with Bledsoe, and ended with 20.3. Absolutely no way to assume Goran couldn't do what he did last year with Eric. So I don't know why you would laughing at someone shooting holes in your lack of researching.

As of right now, Goran runs the team better than Eric, so I think he should get more money.

We will see at the end of the day 15mil for dragic seems unlikely

You still don't seem to understand what JDlaw said, and then what I commented on. You seem to think he commented on salary, when he commented on Goran's numbers, which was what I was also talking about. Instead of recognizing that you didn't know Goran's numbers with Bledsoe, you wanted to make it about a possible salary.

As for Goran's possible salary, it will all depend on what Bledsoe gets, for Goran ran the team better.

[Revived]

I kinda wish Dragic was eligible for an extension this summer so that we could potentially lock em both up for the future and not have to worry about it.

[BurningHeart]

At this point, Dragic should be valued at around 12 million a year because he's unquestionably the heart and soul of the team and the best player on the roster. Bledsoe should be at about 10 million a year, docked a bit for having missed so much time and not getting a chance to prove it over an entire year.

Of course, nothing is as it should be, so we'll probably have to go into cap hell to keep both of them and add a third component.

[Sunsss]

Do not foresee a max offer for Bledsoe. But if one comes his way, you match it and do not look back. Suns are not so flush with talent that they can let a player of his ability walk for nothing, even if you think it is an overpay.

This.

[JTrain]

Can someone explain the amount of years the contract would need to be or could it be any amount?

We just have to pray no one offers him max. It would put us in a horrible situation. If we sign him at max we will have to match with Dragic and we will use up most of our cap on two point guards for years. And if we let him go, he'll end up at a terrible, poorly run team that's just throwing money around desperately and that won't win. And five years down the road he'll look back and realize the extra five million per year wasn't worth being in a frustrating situation and never seeing the postseason.

This is basically a 50 win team with Bledsoe healthy. We need one more significant piece to become a 55-60 win team. And it will be tough to add that if we are soon locked in to paying Bledsoe and Dragic $30 million a year.

[phrazbit]

A max contract is not what it used to be, especially for a dude coming off his rookie deal.

IF someone offers him the max, you match it, the most it will be is 4 years 58 million. Bledsoe has already recovered fully from his injury, if you bother to gain an understand of what his injury was compared to other guys who have had serious problems you'd see there is not a connection.

Bledsoe is a great two way player, the best all around player on our team last year, the Suns were a totally different team with him compared to without him. Unless someone absolutely bowls the Suns over with a sign and trade offer then keeping him is a no brainer.

And remember, we cant just trade him. He has to agree to sign with a team as an RFA, then we have to convince them we will match the contract unless they give us value. We dont get to pick the team, he does.

[Zelaznyrules]

For sure you match. If they weren't comfortable matching any offer then he should have been traded at the deadline. Suns are in no position to let assets leave. It's that simple imo

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We would not have received much for an injured player at the deadline.

As for any undervaluing, I don't think anyone is undervaluing Bledsoe's defense. There were many times after he came back from injury, where he was not as good defensively. Westbrook went to the basket at will while Bledsoe was guarding him, and often without using a pick or screen.

I still think the injury comes into play here. It was second injury to the same knee, and while our med staff is used to seeing knee injuries now, we also passed on Amare because of his knees.

Moreover, I still feel it is stupid for players to want the max, when they aren't even all stars. We aren't the Knicks or LAL, so we don't have deep pockets. It seems like stars get disgruntled when the team can't put stars around them, yet have no problem taking up a large portion of the cap space.

Now if there was no cap, I could see players going for all the money they can get. But since there is a cap, money plays a huge role in the team building. Asking for the max (or even expecting it) on a team without deep pockets, is just setting things up for failure and issues down the line.

I'm hoping McD is in Bledsoe's ear about building a team and what it will take to do so within the CBA.

Bledsoe got around Westbrook far easier than Russell did around Bledsoe, and far more often too. Most of the damage Westy did in their post-injury matchup came when he faced off against anyone not named Eric. Eric's defense is nothing short of incredible and he's doing that without a stopper behind him. The offensive player has the advantage and the best in the game are always going to find a way to score but I don't see how anyone can actually watch us play with Bledsoe out there and not see how much more effective everyone is because of Eric.

[spanishninja]

A max contract is not what it used to be, especially for a dude coming off his rookie deal.

IF someone offers him the max, you match it, the most it will be is 4 years 58 million. Bledsoe has already recovered fully from his injury, if you bother to gain an understand of what his injury was compared to other guys who have had serious problems you'd see there is not a connection.

Bledsoe is a great two way player, the best all around player on our team last year, the Suns were a totally different team with him compared to without him. Unless someone absolutely bowls the Suns over with a sign and trade offer then keeping him is a no brainer.

And remember, we cant just trade him. He has to agree to sign with a team as an RFA, then we have to convince them we will match the contract unless they give us value. We dont get to pick the team, he does.

yeah, NBA salaries are pretty well controlled these days, to the point where they are much lower than market value compared to other sports. Getting 20% of a starting lineup for 14 mill a year is still a much better deal than in football where you're paying that kind of price for one of 40 guys.