Phoenix Suns: Is Eric Bledsoe Expendable?

Heading into the offseason, if you had asked any Phoenix Suns fan what the top priority was for the team this summer, they would have answered “re-signing Eric Bledsoe.” They wouldn’t have been wrong in that assertion, but the possibility that Bledsoe won’t be in orange and purple this October could be growing a little bit stronger.

It’s no secret that the Suns are trying to bring big names to Phoenix and become a playoff contender in the loaded Western Conference. With names like Kevin Love and LeBron James floating around, the future could be extremely bright if the Suns find away to hang on to Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, their two most valuable assets. But with the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics trying to put together packages for Love, the Suns could be running out of time to throw their name in the ring.

Only a few days ago, the Warriors moved to the forefront by finally changing their stance on making Klay Thompson expendable. Since then ESPN reported that the Dubs have hit a road block on their pursuit of Love because the organization is split on Thompson’s availability. In other words, the Minnesota Timberwolves are still waiting for the perfect offer to come in and sweep them off their feet.

As much as Suns fans will try to convince themselves general manager Ryan McDonough is capable of bamboozling the Wolves into a Kevin Love trade that doesn’t involve Dragic or Bledsoe, that’s most likely not realistic. If the Warriors relent on their off-limits stance with Thompson, or if the clock expires and the Wolves are forced to accept the best offer on the table for fear of losing Love for nothing, the Suns won’t have the most appealing trade package without Bledsoe.

Why? Well for one thing, the clock is already winding down on the Suns and other teams with draft assets. If Phoenix is unable to strike a deal before Thursday’s draft, they’ll go from having the No. 14, 18, 27 and 50 picks to offer to having to give up the players they’ve drafted. Giving the Wolves whatever picks are being offered is much more appealing when those selections haven’t already been made. Unfortunately, the Suns don’t have picks high enough to really entice Minnesota…unless Bledsoe is involved.

Last season, Bledsoe thrived as a starting point guard when he was on the floor. Though a ton of credit should go to rookie head coach Jeff Hornacek and the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year Dragic, Bledsoe was superb in the 43 games he played. He averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting nearly 48 percent from the field. There were only eight players this season who averaged at least 15 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, and Eric Bledsoe was one of them.

Breaking up one of the league’s best young backcourts obviously sounds like a terrible idea on paper. There are also complications, since the Suns would have to convince Bledsoe to agree to a sign-and-trade and the idea of playing in Minnesota. But in addition to the possibility of adding Kevin Freaking Love by moving Bledsoe, his knees are another reason to think about making him expendable.

Bledsoe has torn the meniscus in his right knee twice in the last three years. He’s missed 72 games in his four-year career despite never playing more than 23 minutes per game until this season. The amount of wear and tear on his knees at age 24 is less than comforting since he had never played starter’s minutes until this year.

And when you consider he had his meniscus removed to come back quicker, which will open him up to more knee injuries in the future, his career feels like a ticking time bomb. Dwyane Wade is a great example of the kind of decay Bledsoe’s knees could experience down the road. With the Timberwolves desperate to add any foundational piece to their roster in return for Love, they might be more likely to overlook these injury concerns than a team committed to making the necessary tweaks to become a Western contender.

The finest two point guard-tandem the Suns have seen since Kevin Johnson and Jeff Hornacek probably deserves better than this. The Suns can match any offer on Bledsoe this summer and should probably do so if they’re unable to move him in the perfect trade. Watching Bledsoe and Dragic wreak havoc on opposing defenses was a joy to behold this season and splitting that up probably feels a lot like splitting up Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for Dubs fans.

But we also can’t ignore McDonough preparing for some flexibility. Though the Suns have said they want to restructure a contract with Bledsoe before free agency even begins, they’ve also been bringing in a lot of point guards for pre-draft workouts. In fairness, this could be to upgrade their backup point guard from Ishmael Smith into a more quality, long-term piece…but bringing in five point guards for workouts is still a potentially interesting development.

When all is said and done, a Big Three of Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Kevin Love would be a dream come true. But the Wolves aren’t going to bite on an offer unworthy of Love, especially since Flip Saunders is stubbornly clinging to the hope that a playoff appearance in 2014-15 could convince Love to stay in Minny. It’s going to take a Godfather offer to nab the Suns a top-10 player, so although testing the waters with role players and multiple draft picks is fine, Bledsoe will realistically have to be expendable if Phoenix is ready for Love.