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Eric Bledsoe’s Fork In The Road

By Michael Dunlap

Mar 21, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) brings the ball up the court during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Suns defeated the Rockets 117-102. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) brings the ball up the court during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Suns defeated the Rockets 117-102. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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When the Phoenix Suns inked Eric Bledsoe to a five-year, $70 million deal back in September of 2014, they were betting all of the red flags (never a full-time starter, injury issues, too quiet to lead) would work themselves out. If 2014-15 was any indication, they were right — Bled was phenomenal. Now, he’s at a major fork in the road, where one way represents complacency and the other greatness.

RED FLAG: INJURIES/ABILITY TO LAST

Bledsoe is coming off of his first full season as a starter (he started all 81 games he appeared in), with averages of 17 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals. The list of players who could match that is a “who’s who” of today’s NBA — James Harden, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James. Bledsoe had never played more than 2,000 minutes in a season and he played 2,800 (8th in the NBA).

While I’ll have to stop short of saying Bledsoe deserved to be on an All-NBA team, he’s definitely shown the potential to ascend to those heights.

This isn’t surprising, though, as last season didn’t come out of nowhere. After battling through a meniscal injury that kept him out almost half of 2013-14, Bledsoe put together an equally impressive statline, with 17.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals. Since returning from that injury, Bledsoe has played 99 of a possible 100 games. We can put the injury red flag to bed.

RED FLAG: TOO QUIET TO LEAD

Admittedly, this was a bit of a problem this season. Nobody was quite sure if it was Goran Dragic‘s team, Bledsoe’s team or — maybe the Morris Twins were quietly running things behind the scenes. The 2014-15 Suns were a young bunch that struggled with discipline from time-to-time. They badly needed a vocal, veteran leader on the court who could relay coach Jeff Hornacek‘s message and could act as a calming influence.

Apr 14, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) reacts against the Los Angeles Clippers at US Airways Center. The Clippers beat the Suns 112-101. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 14, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe (2) reacts against the Los Angeles Clippers at US Airways Center. The Clippers beat the Suns 112-101. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Once Dragic was sent off at the trade deadline, Bledsoe acknowledged his role and how he needed to step up for his team. The problem is, he seemed to vacillate between an aggressive, attacking point guard and one simply trying to play within the system. He could never seem to get his finger on the pulse of when the team needed him to shoot 25 times to carry them to victory.

Hornacek echoed as much numerous times as he mentioned how they asked Bledsoe to shoot more often, to be more aggressive going to the basket (he did take the 10th-most foul shots in the league) and to take over late in games.

Would it surprise you to learn that Bledsoe made the second-most field goals (nine) in the NBA to tie or take the lead in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime? Only DeMar DeRozan (11) made more. Bledsoe’s 45 percent (9-for-20) during that time was better than Stephen Curry (42.9), Damian Lillard (40.0) and John Wall (36.4), to name a few.

It wasn’t Bledsoe’s personal production or actions that lacked — it was his message to teammates. The old adage, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” applies here. It was too rare to see Bledsoe visibly angry with a teammate that missed a rotation or simply had their head out of the game. I’ll take Eric on my squad any day and he’s absolutely the kind of guy who leads by example but it’s not what the team needed last year…but that was then.

In his exit interview, Bledsoe said all the right things. He’s staying in the valley during the summer to train with the younger guys. He’s talked about being more vocal and how he needs to start doing that from the beginning. He’s also pointed at the Spurs organization and how they demand more from each other without having to resort to yelling at the top of their lungs.

THE FORK

Here’s where the fork in the road comes into play. Bledsoe possesses the physical gifts necessary to be a star in the NBA. He’s self-aware enough to realize he needs to improve his leadership and mental approach, but can he do it?

If Bledsoe can make the turn and become more of the kind of leader this team needs, he can turn himself into a LeBron James-type of player that can amaze on both ends of the court while raising the level of his teammates — without any real weaknesses. He played under Chris Paul and certainly learned a lot about leadership and playing the point guard, but Bled has more athletic talent — a scary thought.

The other side of the fork is that Bledsoe turns into a Monta Ellis-type player. He’ll always excel statistically and he’ll put up his numbers but you’re not going to rely on him to be the team’s leader. He’ll be a professional and might even sneak into an All-Star game, but he’ll never be the best player on a championship team.

What’s it going to be, Bled?

Next: Who Did The Suns Grab In Our Latest NBA Mock Draft?

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