Suns, Eric Bledsoe Far Apart In Talks

[Phrazbit]

To run a Len/Hibbert front court we would have to slow to a crawl. It would be ugly to watch and turn Dragic from a pseudo star into nothing as the team can't run on breaks and he can't get into the lane with two huge useless teammates on offense clogging the lane. The spacing would be a nightmare and I cannot fathom how Len would look covering the forwards in this league.

I also think Hibbert alone would be a hindrance on offense. He can't run...he is a 100% half court player, we would be taking an already finicky player and removing him entirely from his comfort zone. I don't like the idea of altering the identity of a quality team to conform to a very mediocre player.

 

[BC867]

To run a Len/Hibbert front court we would have to slow to a crawl. It would be ugly to watch and turn Dragic from a pseudo star into nothing as the team can't run on breaks and he can't get into the lane with two huge useless teammates on offense clogging the lane. The spacing would be a nightmare and I cannot fathom how Len would look covering the forwards in this league.

I also think Hibbert alone would be a hindrance on offense. He can't run...he is a 100% half court player, we would be taking an already finicky player and removing him entirely from his comfort zone. I don't like the idea of altering the identity of a quality team to conform to a very mediocre player.

I agree with not playing two Centers at one time. Why must the choice be zero or two Centers?

One Center, worthy of playing in the 4th quarter, is all I ask for. That wasn't the case last season.

 

[damo]

This is a kind of candid video of Jackie McMullan and other members of the Around the Horn panel discussing Rondo's recent trade request and potential destinations. Naturally, Phoenix comes up as an option with the McDonough connection, and as a sign and trade partner for Bledsoe. They go on say that Boston mightn't like the idea of giving Bledsoe a max either, then I'm pretty sure one of them says "he's out of his mind", seemingly referring to Bledsoe. It's good stuff all round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4goffcw1udI#t=0

 

[mojorizen7]

To run a Len/Hibbert front court we would have to slow to a crawl. It would be ugly to watch and turn Dragic from a pseudo star into nothing as the team can't run on breaks and he can't get into the lane with two huge useless teammates on offense clogging the lane. The spacing would be a nightmare and I cannot fathom how Len would look covering the forwards in this league.

I also think Hibbert alone would be a hindrance on offense. He can't run...he is a 100% half court player, we would be taking an already finicky player and removing him entirely from his comfort zone. I don't like the idea of altering the identity of a quality team to conform to a very mediocre player.

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[Ronin]

This is a kind of candid video of Jackie McMullan and other members of the Around the Horn panel discussing Rondo's recent trade request and potential destinations. Naturally, Phoenix comes up as an option with the McDonough connection, and as a sign and trade partner for Bledsoe. They go on say that Boston mightn't like the idea of giving Bledsoe a max either, then I'm pretty sure one of them says "he's out of his mind", seemingly referring to Bledsoe. It's good stuff all round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4goffcw1udI#t=0

I got distracted by Woody Paige, what in the world was he doing?

 

[devilalum]

This is a kind of candid video of Jackie McMullan and other members of the Around the Horn panel discussing Rondo's recent trade request and potential destinations. Naturally, Phoenix comes up as an option with the McDonough connection, and as a sign and trade partner for Bledsoe. They go on say that Boston mightn't like the idea of giving Bledsoe a max either, then I'm pretty sure one of them says "he's out of his mind", seemingly referring to Bledsoe. It's good stuff all round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4goffcw1udI#t=0

IMO if Bledsoe was offered the same 4/48 to play in a larger market where he was "the man" he'd take it. I don't think he really believes he is worth 5/85. That's just the number he wants to stay in Phoenix.

Love this where Jackie MacMullan says they could trade Rondo to the Kings for Isiah Thomas. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24689371/rumor-rajon-rondo-wants-out-of-boston

 

[sunsfan88]

I have said this before but I'll say it again, I don't think Bledske likes the "run, run, run" offense. I watched about a large majority of the games last season and one thing I noticed in almost all the games Bledsoe played in was Hornacek telling at him to push the ball up fast where as Bledsoe wanted to take it up a little slower.

I rarely ever saw Hornacek doing that to Dragic or Ish.

And everytime Hornacek told him to run, Bledsoe looked annoyed.

I think he prefers to play in a slower tempo offense where he can be the main and only PG and the guy who runs the offense.

I don't blame him because his whole life he's had to play under someone else's shadow. At Kentucky, it was John Wall. With the Clippers it was CP3. And now in PHX, it's Dragic.

Wouldn't surprise me if he was hoping for a trade to Orlando (in return for Afflalo) instead of PHX back when he was with the Clippers. I think he just wants an opportunity to run a team himself and play in a normal offense instead of the cute 7SSOL hybrid that we run.

 

[devilalum]

This one says Rondo would not resign with Sactown anyway.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/rajon-rondo-wants-traded-not-150646597.html

Rondo is only 28, same as Dragic. I would be highly motivated to watch the trio of Rondo, Dragic and Thomas wreak havic. I'm not knowledgeable enough to say that makes the team better or worse but I'd definitely like to see it.

 

[devilalum]

I have said this before but I'll say it again, I don't think Bledske likes the "run, run, run" offense. I watched about a large majority of the games last season and one thing I noticed in almost all the games Bledsoe played in was Hornacek telling at him to push the ball up fast where as Bledsoe wanted to take it up a little slower.

Yeah, a lot of the time Bledose looked like a kid with Asthma. He never seemed to be in good enough shape to keep up for an entire game. The injury didn't help.

 

[devilalum]

I don't blame him because his whole life he's had to play under someone else's shadow. At Kentucky, it was John Wall. With the Clippers it was CP3. And now in PHX, it's Dragic.

This logic pisses me off. I'll give you Wall and CP3 but if you think you're a max PG and a superstar and you can't beat out Goran Dragic you are living in a fantasy world. If you want to be a superstar you go out and take it, you don't sit around whining and expecting someone to hand it to you. Even if the Suns do trade him to a team with no better options I guarantee that team will be drafting a hot shot PG early in next years draft and it will start all over again.

 

[Errntknght]

To run a Len/Hibbert front court we would have to slow to a crawl. It would be ugly to watch and turn Dragic from a pseudo star into nothing as the team can't run on breaks and he can't get into the lane with two huge useless teammates on offense clogging the lane. The spacing would be a nightmare and I cannot fathom how Len would look covering the forwards in this league.

I also think Hibbert alone would be a hindrance on offense. He can't run...he is a 100% half court player, we would be taking an already finicky player and removing him entirely from his comfort zone. I don't like the idea of altering the identity of a quality team to conform to a very mediocre player.

Whatever was I thinking, I swear I must have forgotten how the likes of Frye and Gortat flew down the floor, making things easy for Goran on the fastbreaks. I dunno... I can't seem to shake this image of big guys grabbing rebounds and throwing the ball to him as he races downfloor. Are you quite sure I've gotten this all backwards - it does make sense that tall people can rebound better than shorter people (Frye nonwithstanding). In that kind of scenario the better the big guys were at getting the rebounds the more opportunities Dragic would have - just imagine if they were reliable enough that he could release as soon as a shot went up!

As far as Len playing PF, whether we got Hibbert or not, I believe its an idea worth exploring. Its a given that Len needs to get his head much imore nto the game than he's shown so far but physically he has the ability to move quickly enough to guard most PFs. I'd go far as to say I believe he'd defend them as well overall as Frye did at a comparable age - because Frye was so easily bullied close the bucket. As I mentioned before he's going to have to have a decent face up game out to 18 feet to be a success at that position and that's definitely TBD at this point - though I've read players quoted saying he shows it already in practice.

Even if such an experiment were only a mild success it would a good weapon to have in our arsenal - there'll be times when we want our two best rebounders on the floor or our two best shotblockers and it would nice if it didn't entirely screw up our offense.
If its a rousing success I'd still see Len manning the center spot when Plumlee went to the bench and giving us a boost at PF for 12-18 minutes per game.

 

[Superbone]

I have said this before but I'll say it again, I don't think Bledske likes the "run, run, run" offense. I watched about a large majority of the games last season and one thing I noticed in almost all the games Bledsoe played in was Hornacek telling at him to push the ball up fast where as Bledsoe wanted to take it up a little slower.

I rarely ever saw Hornacek doing that to Dragic or Ish.

And everytime Hornacek told him to run, Bledsoe looked annoyed.

I think he prefers to play in a slower tempo offense where he can be the main and only PG and the guy who runs the offense.

I don't blame him because his whole life he's had to play under someone else's shadow. At Kentucky, it was John Wall. With the Clippers it was CP3. And now in PHX, it's Dragic.

Wouldn't surprise me if he was hoping for a trade to Orlando (in return for Afflalo) instead of PHX back when he was with the Clippers. I think he just wants an opportunity to run a team himself and play in a normal offense instead of the cute 7SSOL hybrid that we run.

I do blame him. He's in a winning situation and he wants to make it all about him. Screw him.

 

[JCSunsfan]

This one says Rondo would not resign with Sactown anyway.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/rajon-rondo-wants-traded-not-150646597.html

Rondo is only 28, same as Dragic. I would be highly motivated to watch the trio of Rondo, Dragic and Thomas wreak havic. I'm not knowledgeable enough to say that makes the team better or worse but I'd definitely like to see it.

Rondo: Great defender/distributor. Very limited scorer. Coach's nightmare. Wants max money.

Bledsoe: Frying pan
Rondo: Fire

 

[JCSunsfan]

This logic pisses me off. I'll give you Wall and CP3 but if you think you're a max PG and a superstar and you can't beat out Goran Dragic you are living in a fantasy world. If you want to be a superstar you go out and take it, you don't sit around whining and expecting someone to hand it to you. Even if the Suns do trade him to a team with no better options I guarantee that team will be drafting a hot shot PG early in next years draft and it will start all over again.

Totally agree with this one.

 

[AZBALLER]

I think it's pretty simple. Phoenix isn't a small market. Why do people say this? 6th largest city in the nation. What Phoenix isn't is southern. Ask Mcdyess or joe johnson, we're stuck in the same situation with Bledsoe. Seriously, as good as our owner has done recently, this smacks of his mess up with jj.

 

[sunsfan88]

This one says Rondo would not resign with Sactown anyway.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/rajon-rondo-wants-traded-not-150646597.html

Rondo is only 28, same as Dragic. I would be highly motivated to watch the trio of Rondo, Dragic and Thomas wreak havic. I'm not knowledgeable enough to say that makes the team better or worse but I'd definitely like to see it.

I don't think Rondo, like Love, would agree to resign in PHX.

 

[Phrazbit]

Whatever was I thinking, I swear I must have forgotten how the likes of Frye and Gortat flew down the floor, making things easy for Goran on the fastbreaks. I dunno... I can't seem to shake this image of big guys grabbing rebounds and throwing the ball to him as he races downfloor. Are you quite sure I've gotten this all backwards - it does make sense that tall people can rebound better than shorter people (Frye nonwithstanding). In that kind of scenario the better the big guys were at getting the rebounds the more opportunities Dragic would have - just imagine if they were reliable enough that he could release as soon as a shot went up!

As far as Len playing PF, whether we got Hibbert or not, I believe its an idea worth exploring. Its a given that Len needs to get his head much imore nto the game than he's shown so far but physically he has the ability to move quickly enough to guard most PFs. I'd go far as to say I believe he'd defend them as well overall as Frye did at a comparable age - because Frye was so easily bullied close the bucket. As I mentioned before he's going to have to have a decent face up game out to 18 feet to be a success at that position and that's definitely TBD at this point - though I've read players quoted saying he shows it already in practice.

Even if such an experiment were only a mild success it would a good weapon to have in our arsenal - there'll be times when we want our two best rebounders on the floor or our two best shotblockers and it would nice if it didn't entirely screw up our offense.
If its a rousing success I'd still see Len manning the center spot when Plumlee went to the bench and giving us a boost at PF for 12-18 minutes per game.

I'll respond to this with more detail later, but Dragic was not exactly killing it with the Gortat/Frye combo, and frye still provided more spacing than any of the dudes we're discussing and Gortat was also better on the glass than these guys. And being good on the glass and being a good shot blocker are not mutually exclusive, plenty of premier shot blockers were also stud rebounders. Hibbert's weak rebounding stats are what they are.

You're putting a lot of stock in Len, he has not shown ability to succeed even as a rotation player... To think such snark is warranted when someone questions the idea that he would potentially thrive as a PF, playing a role he has yet to show any aptitude for...

The team that you are suggesting would play out like a homeless man's version of the grizzlies. Slow, hard to watch, and minus a pair of borderline All-Star big men.

 

[Azlen]

I think it's pretty simple. Phoenix isn't a small market. Why do people say this? 6th largest city in the nation. What Phoenix isn't is southern. Ask Mcdyess or joe johnson, we're stuck in the same situation with Bledsoe. Seriously, as good as our owner has done recently, this smacks of his mess up with jj.

Phoenix by itself is the 6th largest but as far as market size goes, the Phoenix area is 12th or so.

http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/...easurement/television/2013-2014-DMA-Ranks.pdf

Phoenix is mid market with cities like Seattle, Detroit, Denver and Tampa.

 

[BC867]

I think it's pretty simple. Phoenix isn't a small market. Why do people say this? 6th largest city in the nation.

Not to nitpick, but Phoenix is the 13th largest metropolitan area in the country. And (this surprised me), the 16th largest state by population (I thought it was it was lower). And the 12th largest TV market. Not bad, but 13/16/12 is not 6th.

And we are known mostly, not for being an entertainment center or industrial center, etc., but for our weather. In the wide open spaces of the Southwest which, after 36 years, I still love being part of.

 

[Mainstreet]

Forgetting Bledsoe for a moment, I wish the Suns would give Zoran Dragic a strong look. The Pacers are rumored to be looking at him perhaps with the idea of luring Goran there next season.

 

[SirStefan32]

Forgetting Bledsoe for a moment, I wish the Suns would give Zoran Dragic a strong look. The Pacers are rumored to be looking at him perhaps with the idea of luring Goran there next season.

I haven't been following European basketball as closely as I used to, but my understanding is that Zoran is a very inconsistent shooter, doesn't have much strength, and is not terribly good at anything. He is also an atrocious defender.

Basically, he is a very poor man's Goran.

Bogdanovic is a far better prospect.

EDIT:
I don't think Goran is going anywhere unless the Suns trade him. He loved playing here, has a good relationship with the owner, and the Suns will give him a fair offer. I will be shocked if he doesn't stay in Phoenix.

 

[Mainstreet]

I haven't been following European basketball as closely as I used to, but my understanding is that Zoran is a very inconsistent shooter, doesn't have much strength, and is not terribly good at anything. He is also an atrocious defender.

Basically, he is a very poor man's Goran.

Bogdanovic is a far better prospect.

EDIT:
I don't think Goran is going anywhere unless the Suns trade him. He loved playing here, has a good relationship with the owner, and the Suns will give him a fair offer. I will be shocked if he doesn't stay in Phoenix.

I believe Zoran has been playing well internationally. I'm not comparing him to Bogdanovic who may be the better player. However, as much as Goran likes playing for the Suns, I think playing with his brother on the same NBA team would be an attraction. I do believe Zoran can crack a 15 man NBA roster. Below is a link:

http://www.indycornrows.com/2014/8/...diana-pacers-showing-interest-in-zoran-dragic

 

[SirStefan32]

I believe Zoran has been playing well internationally. I'm not comparing him to Bogdanovic who may be the better player. However, as much as Goran likes playing for the Suns, I think playing with his brother on the same NBA team would be an attraction. I do believe Zoran can crack a 15 man NBA roster. Below is a link:

http://www.indycornrows.com/2014/8/...diana-pacers-showing-interest-in-zoran-dragic

What do you base that on? The man can't shoot 30% from the short three point line, his overall FG% has been going down for three years now, and can't create his own shot. Who is he going to beat out of guard rotation? Goran, Bledsoe, Thomas, Green, or Goodwin? Even among youngsters, he is not even close to Bogdanovic or even Ennis, as Bogdanovic is athletic and can flat-out shoot, and Ennis can at least run a basic offense and pass the ball.

If you want to do a nice thing for Goran and give his brother a minimum contract to keep the bench warm and provide another body for practice, that's fine, but let's not pretend he has the talent to be an NBA player.

In all fairness, I thought Goran was never going to make it in the NBA when we drafted him, so I could be wrong.

 

[Superbone]

However, as much as Goran likes playing for the Suns, I think playing with his brother on the same NBA team would be an attraction.

Fortunately, we're known for that.

 

[Mainstreet]

What do you base that on? The man can't shoot 30% from the short three point line, his overall FG% has been going down for three years now, and can't create his own shot. Who is he going to beat out of guard rotation? Goran, Bledsoe, Thomas, Green, or Goodwin? Even among youngsters, he is not even close to Bogdanovic or even Ennis, as Bogdanovic is athletic and can flat-out shoot, and Ennis can at least run a basic offense and pass the ball.

If you want to do a nice thing for Goran and give his brother a minimum contract to keep the bench warm and provide another body for practice, that's fine, but let's not pretend he has the talent to be an NBA player.

In all fairness, I thought Goran was never going to make it in the NBA when we drafted him, so I could be wrong.

Goran and Zoran will be the two headed monster like when they play together for Slovenia.

More realistic, I'd rather have Zoran warming the bench (filling out the roster) than many other players.