Phoenix Suns: What Will Eric Bledsoe Add to the Team?
By Evan Massey
The Phoenix Suns are currently 35-25 and are sitting at the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoff race. There is no doubt that they have been the most surprising team in the NBA this season, and they are about to get another key piece back from injury within the next week. Eric Bledsoe has been out for quite some time due to injury, but according to reports will be back in game action by next week.
This is great news for the Phoenix Suns, but what will Eric Bledsoe bring to the table for the team?
Quite frankly, Eric Bledsoe will add a little bit of everything for the Phoenix Suns. He has played in just 24 games with the Suns all season long, starting in 22 of those contests. In those appearances, he has averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game. Those numbers show just how valuable of a player he can be for Phoenix, and how big of a help he will be to them down the stretch of the regular season and hopefully into the playoffs.
It will be very intriguing to see what head coach Jeff Hornacek decides to make his role when he returns. Gerald Green has been playing extremely good basketball in Bledsoe’s absence, and it appears that Bledsoe will likely make his return coming off of the bench. Don’t be surprised if Bledsoe is able to play his way back into the starting lineup before too long.
What will Eric Bledsoe add to Jeff Hornacek’s surprising Phoenix Suns team? The scoring aspect is going to be a very welcome addition for the Suns, especially if Hornacek decides to bring him off of the bench. Whether Green or Bledsoe starts, the Suns are going to have much better scoring coming off of their bench. Perhaps the most underrated and least talked about aspect of Bledsoe’s game is his ability to create shots for his teammates. Goran Dragic has done an excellent job of doing that all season long, but having Bledsoe in the game will take a lot of the pressure off of him.
Overall, the Suns are going to be getting yet another offensive threat back into the rotation with Eric Bledsoe. They will get a much improved guard off the bench to help out Dragic, and will have a playmaker to help allow Dragic to play off the ball more if he gets plugged back into the starting lineup. The Suns are hoping to make a run down the stretch of the regular season to get into the playoffs, and you can expect to see Eric Bledsoe become a big part of it.
Evan Massey is a Staff Writer for HoopsHabit.com. Follow Evan on Twitter at @Massey_Evan.