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Phoenix Suns: The Goran Dragic Quandary

By Gerald Bourguet

Oct 29, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (1) against the Los Angeles Lakers during the home opener at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 29, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (1) against the Los Angeles Lakers during the home opener at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Goran Dragic
Oct 31, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) and guard Isaiah Thomas (3) high five in the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at US Airways Center. The Suns won 94 – 89. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /

The Rest Of The Backcourt

In his last three games, Gogi is averaging a mere 22 minutes per game. Two of those contests were blowouts, sure, but we haven’t seen Dragic excel since that big night against the Celtics. Having three starting-caliber point guards means Jeff Hornacek has to ride the hot hand most nights, but the Dragon hasn’t been that guy in a while.

Dragic hasn’t been bad, necessarily. He’s still struggling with his three-point shot, his assist numbers are way down and he definitely needs to be more assertive when he does get the ball in his hands, but it certainly doesn’t help that Bledsoe and Thomas have been so good recently.

Bledsoe was excellent on the Suns’ five-game road trip, carrying them late in games with some big-time buckets. We’ve seen him get to the rim and make clutch layups (and sometimes three-point plays) against the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics AND Toronto Raptors in the past two weeks. Bledsoe is averaging a well-rounded 14.2 points, 5.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game and looks like he’s ready to take the reins of this team.

Thomas, meanwhile, has been instant offense off the bench. Though it’s been easy for I.T. to take advantage of playing other teams’ backups, he’s also been closing out games lately. He’s leading the team in scoring at 15.5 points per game, and combined with Gerald Green (14.1 PPG), he forms one of the best 1-2 scoring punches in the league.

Next: Gogi's Free Agency

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