Phoenix Suns: 5 goals for Eric Bledsoe in 2017-18

5. Stay healthy

Since Eric Bledsoe first entered the league in 2010-11, he’s alternated between perfectly healthy years and injury-ravaged seasons, all of which were cut short by a knee injury.

As a rookie, Bled played 81 games and even earned 25 starts with the Los Angeles Clippers. The following year, he was limited to just 40 games and his minutes were cut in half due to the arrival of Chris Paul and a torn meniscus.

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The next season, he played 76 games, only to follow it up with 43 games and a torn meniscus in his first season with the Suns. He came back with a career year in a healthy 81-game 2014-15 season, but the following year, when an All-Star appearance seemed within reach, he tore his meniscus again, limiting him to 31 games.

Bledsoe may have only played 66 games last year, but that’s because the Suns shut him down for the final 15 games of the season. He was perfectly healthy, continuing the uncanny trend of trading off healthy seasons with meniscus tears.

Heading into 2017-18, Bledsoe will be hoping to buck that trend and stay healthy for two consecutive seasons for the first time in his career. For the sake of the Suns’ goals, his desire to win and his trade value, avoiding another injury-stricken season is his most obvious goal.