Bledsoe signs for 5 years 70 million

[jcsunsfan]

Why are fans of other teams posting stuff like "Oh Rich Paul hosed the Suns" etc?

How hard is it to realize that Bledsoe wanted $16M/yr and the Suns wanted $12M/yr so they met in the middle at $14M/yr?

The perception throughout this process has been that the Suns hold all the cards and Bledsoe none. If I were to talk with my prospective employer where I desperately want the job and they have other options, then the salary likely is closer to what they will offer than what I want.

The resulting contract, even objectively speaking, made it feel like it's a fair negotiation, where both sides have just as much leverage on the other party. While this may have been reality in terms of each side's leverage, it was definitely not the perception to the public. That Rich Paul can negotiate even a fair value for his client implies that (A)he's not incompetent and (B) the Suns apparently were a lot certain of their negotiating advantage than they appeared.

Teams also want to have happy players. Even with the negotiating advantage, if you think that player is actually WORTH more, you will pay more. Just because you can put the screws to someone in a negotiation, does not mean that you should. I think this is a clear case of that. It sends a message to other players. "Listen, we could have really pushed it, but we like Eric, so we took care of him. We will take care of you too."

[jcsunsfan]

I do find it odd that we have not seen one "welcome back Eric" tweet from any other team member. Not one. I saw Mook put out a "Welcome Zoran" tweet, but nothing for Bledsoe. Maybe it means nothing, but it does make you pause.

[Zelaznyrules]

I do find it odd that we have not seen one "welcome back Eric" tweet from any other team member. Not one. I saw Mook put out a "Welcome Zoran" tweet, but nothing for Bledsoe. Maybe it means nothing, but it does make you pause.

I CHOOSE to believe it means they all know Eric well enough to give him a more personal greeting. If I didn't like Bledsoe I'd probably choose to believe it tells us something about how he's viewed by his teammates. Or if I were neutral on Eric I'd probably just believe that they are all too tired to turn to social media after a grueling day of basketball workouts.

[King4Day]

I do find it odd that we have not seen one "welcome back Eric" tweet from any other team member. Not one. I saw Mook put out a "Welcome Zoran" tweet, but nothing for Bledsoe. Maybe it means nothing, but it does make you pause.

I'm thinking because he was coming back regardless of the contract he took.
Strange that no one mentioned it at all though.

[SunsFanSSOL]

I do find it odd that we have not seen one "welcome back Eric" tweet from any other team member. Not one. I saw Mook put out a "Welcome Zoran" tweet, but nothing for Bledsoe. Maybe it means nothing, but it does make you pause.

I'm thinking because he was coming back regardless of the contract he took.
Strange that no one mentioned it at all though.

Archie RT'd a tweet saying Bledsoe was coming back.

[baubo]

It's weird I'm getting attacked for not even stating my own opinion.

sry. I think we are a little defensive because RGM is filled with stupid posts about how this signing was dumb. that may be an accurate conclusion, but it's annoying because so many ppl are stating this conclusion based on self-evidently inaccurate facts.

this is just what happeens when you don't win a championship after a half-century. you get extra protective over yer offseason celebrations.

That's okay. I get defensive about things too. My own opinion, and I think I posted earlier in this thread, is simply that he's worth max if healthy but I'm uncertain of his health. I would be terrified if I were a GM having to give him 4-5 years, but I'm not a GM. But you can't pretend that all the stories over the summer had been that Bledsoe can't take the QO and that Suns deal was more than fair. I don't think there have been any flattering stories on Bledsoe's side at all.

Personally, I think this deal came about because of the rumors of the new TV deal allowing for a sizable increase in cap even next year. If the cap jumps next year instead of 2016 as previously expected, then clearly Bledsoe's position strengthens quite a bit.

[Revived]

I do find it odd that we have not seen one "welcome back Eric" tweet from any other team member. Not one. I saw Mook put out a "Welcome Zoran" tweet, but nothing for Bledsoe. Maybe it means nothing, but it does make you pause.

That is kind of strange....Paul George of the Pacers gave him a congrats tweet though...#PG2thedesert? #tuckerreplacement #jk

[WeekapaugGroove]

Some of yall are over thinking this. If he plays well and stays healthy he a great asset either as a player or a trade chip. That's what we all should be cheering for no matter if he wants to be here or not.

Sent from my SM-G900V using RealGM Forums mobile app

[gaspar]

I do find it odd that we have not seen one "welcome back Eric" tweet from any other team member. Not one. I saw Mook put out a "Welcome Zoran" tweet, but nothing for Bledsoe. Maybe it means nothing, but it does make you pause.

The whole team is working out at the USAC and that's where Bledsoe signed his contract, so they probably didn't have to use twitter to congratulate him.

[Lindecision]

I think some of you are overreacting because of what your FO ended up paying Bledsoe.

He had 17.7 ppg 4.7 rpg 5.5 apg with 1.6 steals last year, and is only going to get better.

[NavLDO]

It's weird I'm getting attacked for not even stating my own opinion.

sry. I think we are a little defensive because RGM is filled with stupid posts about how this signing was dumb. that may be an accurate conclusion, but it's annoying because so many ppl are stating this conclusion based on self-evidently inaccurate facts.

this is just what happeens when you don't win a championship after a half-century. you get extra protective over yer offseason celebrations.

My deepest apologies if a) you felt you were being attacked, and b) that I made the assumption that you actually believed in the theory you posted.

Wasn't really trying to 'attack' anyone, was just stating a simple flaw in logic that just because, as I 'perceived' you agreed with what you were righting, I was incorrect, not you....same thought train...just because others perceived incorrectly that the Suns held all the cards, doesn't mean they got 'hosed', it means they perceived the situation incorrectly, and thirdly, just because you 'perceived' I was attacking, doesn't mean I was. If you read what I wrote, I was really just 'matter of fact' in my explanation. I don't see an inflammatory language in the statement I made. I really didn't go on some sort of tirade, did I? Hard to read emotion on a message forum, I presume. But again, I do apologize if I came across that way...was not my intention!

[bwgood77]

I think some of you are overreacting because of what your FO ended up paying Bledsoe.

He had 17.7 ppg 4.7 rpg 5.5 apg with 1.6 steals last year, and is only going to get better.

Only a few people around here are. It's mostly fans of other teams or people on the General Board saying the Suns got screwed or it's a bad contract. He's making less per year than Parsons and Hayward and has a far bigger impact on the court. If guys like Irving are going to be making 18, than Bledsoe at 14 is a good deal.

[Suns Court 23]

I think some of you are overreacting because of what your FO ended up paying Bledsoe.

He had 17.7 ppg 4.7 rpg 5.5 apg with 1.6 steals last year, and is only going to get better.

Only a few people around here are. It's mostly fans of other teams or people on the General Board saying the Suns got screwed or it's a bad contract. He's making less per year than Parsons and Hayward and has a far bigger impact on the court. If guys like Irving are going to be making 18, than Bledsoe at 14 is a good deal.

Agreed. I think Bledsoe will be well-worth his contract.

[King4Day]

http://www.nba.com/suns/ryan-talks-bledsoe-signing

Couple things to take from this.

1. McDonough is sweating his balls off.
2. He clearly was aware that fans were upset with EB about the whole process and he has an offhand comment about it.

[King4Day]

I do find it odd that we have not seen one "welcome back Eric" tweet from any other team member. Not one. I saw Mook put out a "Welcome Zoran" tweet, but nothing for Bledsoe. Maybe it means nothing, but it does make you pause.

I asked Coro about this and here's his response:

@DrkPhoenixSaga · Sep 26
@paulcoro Do u think we should ask the question as to why not a single Suns player tweeted anything to EB about returning?They get along ok?

Paul Coro ‏@paulcoro · Sep 26
@DrkPhoenixSaga They do all get along. It's a fair question but it might just be because they saw him in person.

[JDLAW]

http://www.nba.com/suns/ryan-talks-bledsoe-signing

Couple things to take from this.

1. McDonough is sweating his balls off.
2. He clearly was aware that fans were upset with EB about the whole process and he has an offhand comment about it.

You read way too much into this!

[bwgood77]

Yeah, ridiculous...who cares about who tweets congrats to who. As a matter of fact, that usually means less of a personal connection.

[No-Man]

I know you guys run 2-PG, but how do you plan to make minutes for Dragic, Bledsoe, Thomas, Green, Goodwin, Ennis and Zoran at the 1/2?

Most of the young guys wont play, they will stay in the dleague, Phoenix main rotation is going to look like,...

Bledsoe-Thomas
Dragic-Dragic
Tucker-Green
Morris-Morris-Tolliver
Plumlee-Len

With the 12th man being a fight between Warren and Goodwin, Goodwin has seniority but Warren is better off the ball, Goodwin got better defensive potential though.

Ennis is just not going to play at all.

[bwgood77]

I know you guys run 2-PG, but how do you plan to make minutes for Dragic, Bledsoe, Thomas, Green, Goodwin, Ennis and Zoran at the 1/2?

Most of the young guys wont play, they will stay in the dleague, Phoenix main rotation is going to look like,...

Bledsoe-Thomas
Dragic-Dragic
Tucker-Green
Morris-Morris-Tolliver
Plumlee-Len

With the 12th man being a fight between Warren and Goodwin, Goodwin has seniority but Warren is better off the ball, Goodwin got better defensive potential though.

Ennis is just not going to play at all.

I think you are fairly close, but I think Zoran won't play at all either and Bledsoe, Thomas and Dragic will play pretty much all the minutes at guards, with Green possibly playing a few.

Other than that I think the twins play together on occasion at 4-5 because our best +/- was with them together on the court, and I don't think small ball hurts us in small stretches. It probably mostly depends on how good Len can be, but I don't trust he can even play as good as center as Kief, outside of maybe blocking an occasional shot.

[lilfishi22]

This Blazer poster picked up the story a few days ago and somehow came to the conclusion that the Suns caved when the Wolves spooked us into giving Bledsoe a big contract. He's been trying to defend himself with BS reasoning and it's been a laugh. Feel free to drop by for the show.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1346523&p=41184133#p41184133