Should the Suns pay Bledsoe 4 years, $63 million?POLL

[jcsunsfan]

You think Dieng and Lavine are more promising future pieces than Bledsoe? The Suns would never trade a guy like Bledsoe without getting at least Dieng back from who they have. And no way they take Martin or Pekovic.

I think Lavine could be. But its not really about whose a more promising future piece anymore. Its more about Bledsoe's situation in Phx being untenable, and public. Phx doesn't feel Bledsoe is worth the max, but when another team is prepared to give him the max, all of a sudden Phx thinks they can be picky with what assets then want in return?

The deadline for the QO isn't far away and Bledsoe has already made it clear he will sign it, so we're at the point of no return. Unfortunately for Phx that means very little leverage. That's is why I said the pick makes this interesting. A package of Pekovic and a top 3 protected 1st is good value, all things considered. I mean Bledsoe probably wants out at this point.

I don't think he will take the QO. He'd be an idiot to, especially if the Suns ultimately go up to 4/54 or so. He'd never make his money back, even if he got a max deal next time.

They can be picky because Minnesota can't sign him outright. If they could, then yes, the Suns couldn't be as picky, but they'd still hold leverage since they could always match.

I am confident he would already have that deal long ago if his side would have come to negotiate. I think this is as much about the status of being a "max" player as it is about the money itself.

[Lindecision]

You think Dieng and Lavine are more promising future pieces than Bledsoe? The Suns would never trade a guy like Bledsoe without getting at least Dieng back from who they have. And no way they take Martin or Pekovic.

I think Lavine could be. But its not really about whose a more promising future piece anymore. Its more about Bledsoe's situation in Phx being untenable, and public. Phx doesn't feel Bledsoe is worth the max, but when another team is prepared to give him the max, all of a sudden Phx thinks they can be picky with what assets then want in return?

The deadline for the QO isn't far away and Bledsoe has already made it clear he will sign it, so we're at the point of no return. Unfortunately for Phx that means very little leverage. That's is why I said the pick makes this interesting. A package of Pekovic and a top 3 protected 1st is good value, all things considered. I mean Bledsoe probably wants out at this point.

I don't think he will take the QO. He'd be an idiot to, especially if the Suns ultimately go up to 4/54 or so. He'd never make his money back, even if he got a max deal next time.

They can be picky because Minnesota can't sign him outright. If they could, then yes, the Suns couldn't be as picky, but they'd still hold leverage since they could always match.

You keep saying he won't sign it and he'd be an idiot to, but its late September already and Bledsoe's camp has made it clear that they will sign it. After that its very likely they will lose Bledsoe for nothing. Once he signs the QO Phx's leverage goes down the toilet because Bledsoe will effectively have a no-trade clause. Teams that trade for him won't have his bird rights either so there's no reason for them to give up any assets. Its not like Minny will be beating themselves over not signing Bledsoe anyway. Not to mention the possible locker room problems if he stays. So yeh, a lot of reasons why Phx can't be picky.

[nevetsov]

Suns out: Bledsoe, Green, Tucker
Suns in: Lavine, Gay, protection on MIN 1st lifted

Minn out: Lavine, Rubio, protection on next year's 1st (already owed to PHX)
Minn in: Bledsoe, Green

Sac out: Gay
Sac in: Rubio, Tucker

Dragic, Thomas, Ennis
Dragic, Lavine, Goodwin
Gay, Warren
Morris, Morris, Tolliver
Plumlee, Len, Randolph

Next year, we have Gay come off the books, Minn's unprotected pick, as well as Bogdan who could come over.

[nevetsov]

^ Estimated salaries, so Minn might need to send filler to Sac to make the numbers work.

[LedeniZZZ]

^^
You guys are awesome.

Minny is willing to give Bledsoe max IF THEY CAN SEND BACK BAD CONTRACTS. And you make it Rubio, LaVine + lifted protection. And all of that for right to overpay injury prone undersized guard (who is good but not for that trouble) and no defence guy in Green (while still having Wiggins, Brewer, Budinger).

I would love to take a gamble on EB but I would give future pick, or lift protection on the current pick that PHO owns or Shabazz or maybe LaVine (im not sure yet). Some mix of that. Dieng no.

Also you/or some 3rd team would have to take some bad contract.

I would pass if you wanted more. Max him or lose him for nothing. I can understand that you guys don't mind having him at 3.7m/year and having cap space after that. But locker room atmosfere would be funny I guess, have that for 3.7m/year.

[phrazbit]

^^
You guys are awesome.

Minny is willing to give Bledsoe max IF THEY CAN SEND BACK BAD CONTRACTS. And you make it Rubio, LaVine + lifted protection. And all of that for right to overpay injury prone undersized guard (who is good but not for that trouble) and no defence guy in Green (while still having Wiggins, Brewer, Budinger).

I would love to take a gamble on EB but I would give future pick, or lift protection on the current pick that PHO owns or Shabazz or maybe LaVine (im not sure yet). Some mix of that. Dieng no.

Also you/or some 3rd team would have to take some bad contract.

I would pass if you wanted more. Max him or lose him for nothing. I can understand that you guys don't mind having him at 3.7m/year and having cap space after that. But locker room atmosfere would be funny I guess, have that for 3.7m/year.

There are unrealistic trades from all sides in this (and all similar situations). On the Wolves board people are touting "Bledsoe and Plumlee + filler for Pek, JJ and Brewer". Just comical garbage.

The Suns and Wolves make for bad trade partners in this scenario. Because you are correct, the Wolves cap situation mandates that they're going to have to take a big fat salary dump on someone to make any trade happen, and the Suns want no part of dead weight contracts right now. The only way to butter up the Suns into taking on all that trash is to throw in a bevy of youth, and I can't see Minnesota doing that seeing as they're in step 1 of a rebuild centered around a 19 year old.

[Lindecision]

Kevin Martin is not dead weight when he can average 19 ppg last year and 18 ppg for his career.

One of the best scorers in this league.

[phrazbit]

Kevin Martin is not dead weight when he can average 19 ppg last year and 18 ppg for his career.

One of the best scorers in this league.

He's also 31 years old, is a middling efficiency player, cant defend a paper bag and is signed for 3 more years... most of which will probably be dead weight.

So yes, I'd call him a dead weight contract that the Suns would have no interest in.

I also don't think its a coincidence that he has only once played for a good team, and while playing for that team had a reduced role... and that after the season that good team made no effort to keep him.

[Lindecision]

Kevin Martin is not dead weight when he can average 19 ppg last year and 18 ppg for his career.

One of the best scorers in this league.

He's also 31 years old, is a middling efficiency player, cant defend a paper bag and is signed for 3 more years... most of which will probably be dead weight.

So yes, I'd call him a dead weight contract that the Suns would have no interest in.

I also don't think its a coincidence that he has only once played for a good team, and while playing for that team had a reduced role... and that after the season that good team made no effort to keep him.

You can't be a dead weight contract if you're that good of a scorer. By definition you can't. Nothing is less dead than scoring 20 points in an NBA game! What Suns fans are doing is engaging in hyperbole to make their point. I get it, but what you mean to say is that Martin's contract is one that you would hate to have. Wallace and Stoudemire are dead weight contracts, not an 18 ppg scorer like Martin.

And OKC wanted to keep Martin, so you're wrong there, but they could only pay him about half of what he is earning now and Martin chose the money. There's also nothing wrong or strange about taking a reduced role when you have Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka are on your team. Counting that against Martin is ridiculous. Of course he's gonna score less! 14 ppg on that team is nothing sniff at.

[LukasBMW]

I'd rather have Gerald Green then Kevin Martin or even Rudy Gay at this point.

Green got better as the season got on and our insiders tell us that he finally "get's it". Hornacek has gotten through to him.

I expect the 9 fingered freak to put up stooopid numbers this year especially if he starts.

[phrazbit]

Kevin Martin is not dead weight when he can average 19 ppg last year and 18 ppg for his career.

One of the best scorers in this league.

He's also 31 years old, is a middling efficiency player, cant defend a paper bag and is signed for 3 more years... most of which will probably be dead weight.

So yes, I'd call him a dead weight contract that the Suns would have no interest in.

I also don't think its a coincidence that he has only once played for a good team, and while playing for that team had a reduced role... and that after the season that good team made no effort to keep him.

You can't be a dead weight contract if you're that good of a scorer. By definition you can't. Nothing is less dead than scoring 20 points in an NBA game! What Suns fans are doing is engaging in hyperbole to make their point. I get it, but what you mean to say is that Martin's contract is one that you would hate to have. Wallace and Stoudemire are dead weight contracts, not an 18 ppg scorer like Martin.

And OKC wanted to keep Martin, so you're wrong there, but they could only pay him about half of what he is earning now and Martin chose the money. There's also nothing wrong or strange about taking a reduced role when you have Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka are on your team. Counting that against Martin is ridiculous. Of course he's gonna score less! 14 ppg on that team is nothing sniff at.

Yes, you can be dead weight if you're a good scorer. Rudy Gay is a better scorer than Martin and his contract is absolutely a dead weight disaster. It is not hyperbole to say Martin is 31 years old, declining signed for 3 more years and a terrible defensive player. If Martin were on a one year deal I would not be criticizing that contract, but its got 3 years left. That is a crap contract to string around the neck of a team that wants flexibility.

As for Martin's OKC tenure, I did not say it was strange that he had a reduced role, what I did say is that its telling that the only team thats been able to succeed with him on their roster used him as a role player rather than a guy to lean on... because as a one dimensional chucker thats what he should be. Not a starter on a multi-year contract. And OKC could have kept him, they had his bird rights, they also never amnestied Kendrick Perkins... So if you want to argue its about the luxury tax they basically decided Perkins corpse was more valuable to them than Martin.

[jcsunsfan]

I have seen no legit s&t suggestion yet that would be better than having Bledsoe for a year on the QO and then letting him walk. Doing the trades proposed would be akin to trying to make up for losing Amare by aquiring Childress, Turkoglu etc. You would rather keep the player, but paying medicre players bid money does not make up for it.

[JDLAW]

I have seen no legit s&t suggestion yet that would be better than having Bledsoe for a year on the QO and then letting him walk. Doing the trades proposed would be akin to trying to make up for losing Amare by aquiring Childress, Turkoglu etc. You would rather keep the player, but paying medicre players bid money does not make up for it.

Good way to express it.

[MJallday59]

Magic fan here. With the estimated cap next year being about 80 million, keeping Bledsoe and Dragic is a no brainer.

1. Keep Bledsoe
2. Resign Goran Dragic
3. Sign and Trade Okafor 1 year, 8.5 million and trade him/Ennis to Detroit for Josh Smith.

[bwgood77]

Magic fan here. With the estimated cap next year being about 80 million, keeping Bledsoe and Dragic is a no brainer.

1. Keep Bledsoe
2. Resign Goran Dragic
3. Sign and Trade Okafor 1 year, 8.5 million and trade him/Ennis to Detroit for Josh Smith.

I know Kerrsed would go for that, but most here wouldn't. With two point guards that like to drive and play pick n roll, it is really pretty imperative we play with a stretch four or a guy that can hit at least midrange shots. Now if we had gotten a stretch 5 like Hawes, Smith would have worked out a little better.

Personally I would rather just sign Okafor and let him be a guy to help mentor our young bigs and get some minutes if he is healthy.

Frye will really help your young guards. It might have been an overpay but who cares if it allows the young guys to get to the rim without as many defensive bigs in there, especially with Payton's shooting troubles.

[Lindecision]

He's also 31 years old, is a middling efficiency player, cant defend a paper bag and is signed for 3 more years... most of which will probably be dead weight.

So yes, I'd call him a dead weight contract that the Suns would have no interest in.

I also don't think its a coincidence that he has only once played for a good team, and while playing for that team had a reduced role... and that after the season that good team made no effort to keep him.

You can't be a dead weight contract if you're that good of a scorer. By definition you can't. Nothing is less dead than scoring 20 points in an NBA game! What Suns fans are doing is engaging in hyperbole to make their point. I get it, but what you mean to say is that Martin's contract is one that you would hate to have. Wallace and Stoudemire are dead weight contracts, not an 18 ppg scorer like Martin.

And OKC wanted to keep Martin, so you're wrong there, but they could only pay him about half of what he is earning now and Martin chose the money. There's also nothing wrong or strange about taking a reduced role when you have Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka are on your team. Counting that against Martin is ridiculous. Of course he's gonna score less! 14 ppg on that team is nothing sniff at.

Yes, you can be dead weight if you're a good scorer. Rudy Gay is a better scorer than Martin and his contract is absolutely a dead weight disaster. It is not hyperbole to say Martin is 31 years old, declining signed for 3 more years and a terrible defensive player. If Martin were on a one year deal I would not be criticizing that contract, but its got 3 years left. That is a crap contract to string around the neck of a team that wants flexibility.

As for Martin's OKC tenure, I did not say it was strange that he had a reduced role, what I did say is that its telling that the only team thats been able to succeed with him on their roster used him as a role player rather than a guy to lean on... because as a one dimensional chucker thats what he should be. Not a starter on a multi-year contract. And OKC could have kept him, they had his bird rights, they also never amnestied Kendrick Perkins... So if you want to argue its about the luxury tax they basically decided Perkins corpse was more valuable to them than Martin.

You don't seem to understand the definition of the term dead weight contract.

Rudy Gay and Kevin Martin are not. Gerald Wallace and Amare Stoudemire are.

Not that is matter anyway. Phx caved and gave Bledsoe 5/70.

[Kerrsed]

Not that is matter anyway. Phx caved and gave Bledsoe 5/70.

We didnt cave. Rich Paul did. We have been trying to get them to the negotiating table for months now, but they wouldnt budge from their stance on a max contract (5/$84M). They knew they had no options left and finally came to talk. Our offer was 4/$48M ($12M a season) and we ended up paying him 5/72 ($14M a season), which is farther away from what they wanted and wouldnt budge from.

[Lindecision]

Not that is matter anyway. Phx caved and gave Bledsoe 5/70.

We didnt cave. Rich Paul did. We have been trying to get them to the negotiating table for months now, but they wouldnt budge from their stance on a max contract (5/$84M). They knew they had no options left and finally came to talk. Our offer was 4/$48M ($12M a season) and we ended up paying him 5/72 ($14M a season), which is farther away from what they wanted and wouldnt budge from.

I disagree. I'll say no more seeing as you already called me a troll for just expressing my opinion.