Phoenix Suns: 5 goals for Tyler Ulis in 2017-18

6 of 6

Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images /

1. Start 25 games

Tyler Ulis wouldn’t have started a single game in 2016-17 if the Suns hadn’t decided to blatantly tank and rest Bledsoe for the final 15 games of the season. However, it’s not like Phoenix’s 2017-18 goals are going to be much different, especially with a 2018 NBA Draft class featuring a loaded top-five on the docket.

If Bledsoe is unable to put together his second healthy season in a row — which has never for poor Bled, who has alternated between healthy and injury-stunted seasons over his seven-year career — Ulis could bump up those 15 starts as a rookie to 25 starts in year two.

More from Hoops Habit

If Bledsoe is traded early in the season or even right before the Feb. 8 trade deadline, Ulis would automatically reach this 25-game mark simply by staying healthy for the rest of the season as the de facto starter.

As of right now, it’s unclear if Tyler Ulis can make the jump from quality backup to legitimate starter at the NBA’s most important position. He can pass and create for himself, but will his size hold him back on defense? Can he take care of the ball, lead the offense of a future contender, not be a complete liability on the defensive end and add a 3-point stroke to his repertoire?

Those questions won’t be answered anytime soon, which is why Ulis won’t be supplanting Bledsoe in the starting lineup this year — even with his passing being so infectious and his age (21) fitting in better with the youth movement.

Next: 10 NBA players in need of a trade in 2017-18

But given Bledsoe’s injury history, the possibility of a trade and the fact that any second-year player’s goal should be to improve on rookie benchmarks, improving from 15 starts to 25 sounds about right.

Home/Phoenix Suns