What to do with Bledsoe and Knight?

[Damkac]

Looks like creating new topics is popular lately so here is another one.

Since everyone here wants Booker to be a starter, what to do with our 2 high payed guards? Should we trade one of them? Then which one? Or maybe both of them? Or maybe keep them and just make Knight 6th man?

Personally I would trade Bledsoe for high pick or young talented player.
Most people will probably want to trade Knight before Bled but Bled would get better return and is older. I know he is not old but with his style of play I don't think he will keep high level in his 30's. Suns really need true rebuild and someone like Bledsoe, just entering his prime would fit much better in a win-now team. By the time Booker, Warren, Len and whoever we get in this draft will be ready to compete, Bledsoe will be regressing.

I'm not opposed to trade Knight for right offer but don't want to trade him just for sake of trading him.

It would be ideal if we win the lottery and draft Simmons. He could be our main ballhandler and compensate for Knight lack of playmaking.

[lilfishi22]

Ideally, we would move both and go with a more traditional PG /SG back court ie a passing leader as a PG and a dead-eye shooting scoring SG. But that's me and I'm a traditionalist. Also it's probably too much to do in one go.

[Qwigglez]

I'd like to trade Bledsoe first because of his knee injury history and his game won't translate well when he's older (like you mentioned). Knight can also be traded but only if we are getting quality in return.

[saintEscaton]

I obviously prefer Bledsoe as a player, but if our medical staff clears him we need to deal him ASAP this offseason to strike while the iron is hot before his value depreciates. But who knows he maybe a no knee gimp upon returning from his third career meniscus injury. Knight I don't see many teams eager to be bent over for his services and is less movable especially if they don't want to play him at the 2 due to defensive liability

[LukasBMW]

I don't like Bledsoe's knee or effort
I like the fact that he DID seem to be trying hard early this year
End of the day, his knee and attitude worry me. Trade him.

I think Brandon Knight belongs in the D-league hall of game
I think Brandon Knight could swim in a swimming pool of turnovers
I think Brandon Knight could hit a 3 point shot when no one is looking
Trade him. Please.

[bwgood77]

Actually I just voted to trade Knight, but on second thought, unless there was a great deal out there for Knight, I'd keep them both, at least for now. I would like to give him a little more of a chance, and I think his value will be higher later anyway, and I'd like to see Bledsoe's health upon return.

[No-Man]

Gotta keep them both at least for now.
Bledsoe difficult to gauge how he is going to rebound from the injuries, and Knight has little trade value as of now.
If I am the Suns I'd move Markieff and Chandler in the summer, when the market for both will be better, more teams left out by free agents with capspace and willing to offer something and absorb deals.
Only guy I'd be willing to move now is Tucker, along with the guy between Teletovic and Leuer that has more trade value or you dont feel like you will keep, maybe Ronnie Price if the idea is to save some bucks.
Likely easier to get more for Leuer since his contract its smaller (in the Dunc'd on podcast they had a mock trade deadline with moves for both guys).
But I am not making many more moves outside of that, Bogdanovic wont come until 2017, I'd leave Alec Brown in Spain (same team where Muscala played, and they are good at developing guys) so you have 3 picks, get a couple of frontcourt players and stash another euro-guy, and move forward with a coach that understand what is better for the roster, I'd likely go after Luke Walton, former AZ guy.

Knight should get the Jason Terry role, and Bledsoe start with Booker.
You have been a really good drafting team and I think that could be a trend this summer with those 3 picks.

[JMac1]

Trade Knight. Bledsoe is more of a PG, he tries to pass first. Knight is just so frustrating. If he looked to be a PG, would love to have him, but that isn't in his DNA.

[ATTL]

Depends what we could get for them. Bledsoe has one less year under contract but has injury history. Knight plays selfish and dumb. Hopefully the rising cap will make other teams more willing to trade for either.

[MrMiyagi]

Bled and Knight haven't played enough together. Keep them both.

[nevetsov]

Bled and Knight haven't played enough together. Keep them both.

But playing them together will likely come at the expense of playing and developing Booker, which IMO should be priority #1.

[GMATCallahan]

Bled and Knight haven't played enough together. Keep them both.

But playing them together will likely come at the expense of playing and developing Booker, which IMO should be priority #1.

They could play in a three-guard rotation (as distinct from a three-guard lineup): with 96 available minutes per game at the two guard spots, Bledsoe could average 35 minutes, and Knight and Booker could more or less split the remaining 61 minutes, with one of them coming off the bench yet still potentially playing 30 minutes per game. Knight would probably be better suited for that role, but if his ego is too sensitive, Booker is still young enough to fill it without sacrificing his minutes and development.

As some other posters have indicated, Bledsoe is the guy who could potentially yield more in a trade, and based on his history, he will indeed require yet another meniscus surgery in the future. However, if his track record offers any indication, he will need that surgery during the '17-'18 season, not next year. I would thus keep Bledsoe heading into next season, reestablish his health in order to maximize his trade value, and also give the Suns more of an opportunity to see how they fare with Bledsoe. Then, if the team's results remain unsatisfactory, I would aggressively shop Bledsoe at the February 2017 trading deadline or, more likely, in the summer of 2017.

Either way, the Suns are going to need to pair Bledsoe with a major front-court offensive player—someone such as DeMarcus Cousins or Marc Gasol—to really have a chance of going somewhere. Bledsoe is a good player and possibly a very good player, but he is not a franchise player, and he needs a front-court star who can pass and facilitate offense.

Consider matters this way: Kevin Johnson did not need Charles Barkley to lead an elite offense, and Charles Barkley did not need Kevin Johnson to lead an elite offense, but if you featured them both, you may well possess the most efficient offense in the NBA. (Indeed, the Suns ranked first in Offensive Rating, or points scored per possession, in each of the first two seasons that Johnson and Barkley played together.) The same dynamic was true of Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki: they did not need each other, but together they could create a sort of "value added" situation.

Well, in order to run an elite offense, Eric Bledsoe is the kind of guard who will generally require an outstanding and multidimensional front-court offensive teammate.

[nevetsov]

Bled and Knight haven't played enough together. Keep them both.

But playing them together will likely come at the expense of playing and developing Booker, which IMO should be priority #1.

They could play in a three-guard rotation (as distinct from a three-guard lineup): with 96 available minutes per game at the two guard spots, Bledsoe could average 35 minutes, and Knight and Booker could more or less split the remaining 61 minutes, with one of them coming off the bench yet still potentially playing 30 minutes per game. Knight would probably be better suited for that role, but if his ego is too sensitive, Booker is still young enough to fill it without sacrificing his minutes and development.

So then you have no time for Archie or Bogdan (or the PG we will invariably draft...)

Either way you splice it, someone has to go. If you keep Knight purely for the intent of playing him with Bledsoe in the hope of seeing him flourish, you're choosing to roll the dice with him at the expense of relegating a could-be superstar SG to the sixth man role. I think most here have seen enough of Booker to want to give him every possible opportunity to succeed.

[Frank Lee]

Yup Nevets......The real question may be what are we going to do with Booker and Goodwin.... and then there is Bogdan waiting in the wings. Our asset collecting GM has little loyalty, especially if the situation on the court isn't exactly panning out. (see this yr and last). Something has to give in this current/future logjam.

[kennydorglas]

I'd trade Knight.
We need to give Bledsoe/Booker a chance of playing together. I think they'll mesh very well.
But if we get a super good offer for Bledsoe (and eventually ending up drafting Dunn), I wouldnt be mad at all.

[MrMiyagi]

Look, even if the worry comes from Booker and Archie (wait, so you guys are now on board with him? GASP!) not getting minutes, trading either Bledsoe or Knight right now isn't going to yield what it could by playing them together next season for an extended period of time. Not saying that one won't need to be traded eventually, but to trade one now would be a huge mistake.

[RunDogGun]

If a decent trade comes up for Knight, he would be the one I'd move. Nothing against him personally, just with how well Booker has adapted to his role, it would be wiser to package Knight with someone to yield a decent big. But doubtful it happens this season.

[JayBenzy]

Trade both and just start over. Hell lets trade Sarver for a donkey and a bag of chicharones!
Get it done!

[rsavaj]

Knight is much more replaceable. Move him for a good forward if possible.

See how Bledsoe plays next year. Build up his trade value a bit, then move him for a better playmaker at PG.

[thamadkant]

Trade both for...

James Harden

Or

Jimmy Butler


Add a future pick (not 2016 and lottery protected 2017)