Phoenix Suns: Eric Bledsoe Agrees To Five-Year, $70 Million Deal

So much for four years and $48 million.

After Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported yesterday that restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns had made progress toward reaching an agreement on a contract extension, it felt like a summer-long fiasco was drawing to a close. Less than 24 hours later, the deal is done and it appears the Suns were more than willing to budge on their initial offer. The first details of the new deal came from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst:

Bledsoe and his agent Rich Paul flew to Phoenix to work out a deal with the front office (as Woj first reported), and the timing couldn’t have been more last-minute with Media Day and training camp starting next week. After an offseason stalemate nearly prompted Bledsoe to take a $3.7 million qualifying offer that would’ve made him an unrestricted free agent next summer, it appears the Suns had a little more wiggle room than the initial four-year, $48 million they put on the table.

Paul and his client had been pushing for a five-year, $84 million max deal, so this finalized contract is a bit south of the ludicrous max that Bledsoe wanted. However, five years and $70 million is quite a hefty amount to give to a guy who only played 43 games last season and is coming off his second knee surgery in three years.

Then again, the star potential is definitely there for Bledsoe. Last season with the Suns, he averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. In games in which he and Goran Dragic started, the Suns posted an impressive 23-11 record and even with Bledsoe sidelined for half the season, the surprising Suns nearly snuck into the brutal Western Conference playoffs with 48 wins.

The Suns must have decided the prospect of both Bledsoe and Dragic becoming unrestricted free agents next summer was too frightening to allow Bledsoe to play on the qualifying offer, because that extra year and $22 million have given him one of the biggest free agency deals of the offseason. With an annual salary of $14 million per season, the Suns will definitely be crossing their fingers that Bledsoe can finally stay healthy and play through a full 82-game schedule.

Still, there’s undoubtedly a fair amount of relief on both sides with Bledsoe being locked into a long-term deal that will keep him in the Valley of the Sun for the next five years. At 24 years old, Bledsoe’s best years are still ahead of him and in the event of any injury setbacks, what better medical staff to treat him than Phoenix’s warlock crew?

Bledsoe is a great fit for Phoenix’s offense under Jeff Hornacek, he’s a terrific defender, and he and Dragic really clicked in the backcourt together last season. The addition of Isaiah Thomas was seen as insurance for Bledsoe, but now that Phoenix’s restricted free agent is returning on a lucrative new deal, Thomas will give the Suns the deepest backcourt in the league as a sixth man.

There’s also the new NBA TV deal to consider. Two years from now, when the NBA signs its new and extremely lucrative deal, the salary cap is expected to rise pretty dramatically. Bledsoe’s deal could look like a bargain by then, especially if he stays healthy.

Just a few weeks ago, neither side appeared willing to budge on a new contract and it seemed like Bledsoe would be gone as an unrestricted free agent next summer. But whether it was the discomfort of leaving millions of dollars on the table by taking the qualifying offer or the public backlash that resulted from his demand for a max deal, Bledsoe and the Suns both compromised in the end. For this contract to pay off, Bledsoe will have to stay healthy, and the Suns are banking that he will.

Now the priority will be getting the Dragon to re-sign next summer. But for now, finally, excitement for the 2014-15 Phoenix Suns can commence.