Lowry's deal ended up being a steal for Toronto. They were able to keep an All Star PG who also wanted to be there. They've lost pretty much every other All Star/Franchise player in the past. The amount of his contract though isn't that much, especially with the projected cap increase due to the TV deal. Dragic will be able to command a contract somewhere close to what Bledsoe got, 5 years/70 million, of course because of his age I'd rather the Suns didn't sign him for 5 years at that price but surely he'll command 4/56 million on the open market. That would put him about the same annually as Bledsoe, only Dragic's talent has most likely peaked whereas Bledsoe has shown improvement this year and should continue to over the length of his deal.
Trail Blazers @ Suns
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Lowry's deal ended up being a steal for Toronto. They were able to keep an All Star PG who also wanted to be there. They've lost pretty much every other All Star/Franchise player in the past. The amount of his contract though isn't that much, especially with the projected cap increase due to the TV deal. Dragic will be able to command a contract somewhere close to what Bledsoe got, 5 years/70 million, of course because of his age I'd rather the Suns didn't sign him for 5 years at that price but surely he'll command 4/56 million on the open market. That would put him about the same annually as Bledsoe, only Dragic's talent has most likely peaked whereas Bledsoe has shown improvement this year and should continue to over the length of his deal.
Maybe it was the USA basketball coaches that coached the ability out of him?
GatorAZ
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All it takes is one desperate team. I think a Lowry type offer to Dragic would be smart seeing as they're already overpaying Bledsoe. The Suns are over the cap and the Twins' contracts double next year.
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February? Really? In the NBA it usually takes years to develop a roster, not months. We're the 4th youngest team in the league in age and I suspect we're probably 3rd youngest in experience.
Steve
hcsilla
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Ended up? He signed it last summer and he is exactly the same player now as he was then.
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If the Lowry deal came together a couple months later it would have likely been for a few million more annually. By the time Bledsoe signed, the details of the next TV deal were taking shape. If they had waited Lowry probably nets a deal very similar to Eric's. And Eric's deal is likely to be considered a steal within two years assuming he stays relatively healthy.
Steve
GatorAZ
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The Suns are playing one guy significant time who wasn't here last year. That is zilch compared to normal turnover from year to year. Not a legit excuse when everyone said the team was finally gelling during that 14-6 streak.
GatorAZ
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The Suns original offer to Bledsoe would've been a steal.
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What an embarassing loss on national TV.
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Well, first off, I think something has gone south since that streak. Thomas tweeted something to the effect that "you know it's time to leave when the respect is no longer there" and Goran just hasn't looked himself for a few games now. I don't know what's going on but it seems like something must be.
And you're right that this is mostly the team from last year, just a switch out of a stretch big man for an undersized point guard. But when a 4th year man is your longest tenured player, it makes no sense to call them a treadmill team. Our entire 15 man roster has logged about 60,000 total minutes in this league. Which is about 10,000 more minutes than Jason Kidd by himself logged for his career. Or about 26,000 fewer minutes of game time than the very young Minnesota team whose future so many seem enamored of.
Steve
slinslin
Welcome to Amareca
Dragic needs to play much better, no excuses for him and don't bring up that "he does not get touches stuff". He is simply not playing well, disappearing a lot and not making much out of his touches.
He is averaging like 10 points over the last 10 games since our schedule has gotten tougher combined with his atrocious defense.
It's time to stop the excuses and blaming other players for Dragic's underperformance.
Whether he technically plays as a PG or SG does not even matter that much. When he gets the ball he can make the same plays but too often he is dribbling on top of the key with no result in the half court. We are playing with multiple PGs anyway. Bledsoe also gets less touches than last year.
He just needs to play better and he will automatically get more touches.
Last year Dragic struggled when he was not paired with Frye. His statistical peak also came when the Suns were significantly worse record wise and talent wise. It seems to me that Dragic simply struggles when he is not the total focus of the offense and the team built around him. He certainly has yet to prove in his career that he can fit in with other great players and still be extremely productive.
If you think Bledsoe and Thomas are the reason that Dragic does not get his just wait until he is paired with someone like James Harden.
He is averaging like 10 points over the last 10 games since our schedule has gotten tougher combined with his atrocious defense.
It's time to stop the excuses and blaming other players for Dragic's underperformance.
Whether he technically plays as a PG or SG does not even matter that much. When he gets the ball he can make the same plays but too often he is dribbling on top of the key with no result in the half court. We are playing with multiple PGs anyway. Bledsoe also gets less touches than last year.
He just needs to play better and he will automatically get more touches.
Last year Dragic struggled when he was not paired with Frye. His statistical peak also came when the Suns were significantly worse record wise and talent wise. It seems to me that Dragic simply struggles when he is not the total focus of the offense and the team built around him. He certainly has yet to prove in his career that he can fit in with other great players and still be extremely productive.
If you think Bledsoe and Thomas are the reason that Dragic does not get his just wait until he is paired with someone like James Harden.
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I think it's unreasonable to play someone out of position and then fault them for their defense. It's a given that him sliding to the 3 spot is going to create mismatches for the other team. It was working for us because we were able to make more out of our advantage than the other guys could with theirs. I don't know what's happened the past several games, he's just gone back to playing like he did when the season started.
I don't believe it has anything to do with quality of opponent though as his earlier struggles came against the weakest part of our schedule. I'd lean towards exhaustion for both stretches. I'm sure his fellow countrymen will take offense to the idea that he can't play basketball 12 months a year but no one else can either. Look at the difference between year-around Duncan and the Duncan that got to rest his body for a couple of months in between seasons.
We are a good team when all 3 point guards are having average or better nights. We are not a good team when any of the 3 struggle. I think it's laughable though that some people are calling the 3 guard lineup a failure because of last night. It failed because 2 of them had off nights. What happens to most teams when 2 of their best players have off nights? They usually lose and if they are on the road against one of the better teams, they usually lose badly.
Steve
slinslin
Welcome to Amareca
Dragic is a poor defender no matter if he is technically guarding a 1, 2 or 3. Bledsoe is having his fair share of guarding shooting guards and small forwards as well.
It's not like Dragic is getting posted up a lot, he struggles bad getting through a pick already.
I think Dragic struggles because this season he can't run pick and roll all the time which was the bread and butter and MAJOR contributor to his production last year. His production was largely dependant on being on the court with Frye.
He looks often clueless when he gets the ball in the half court if he can't play pick and roll, regardless of whether he is PG or SG out there.
http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/2m9928/goran_dragics_stats_without_channing_frye/
It's not like Dragic is getting posted up a lot, he struggles bad getting through a pick already.
I think Dragic struggles because this season he can't run pick and roll all the time which was the bread and butter and MAJOR contributor to his production last year. His production was largely dependant on being on the court with Frye.
He looks often clueless when he gets the ball in the half court if he can't play pick and roll, regardless of whether he is PG or SG out there.
http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/2m9928/goran_dragics_stats_without_channing_frye/
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82CardsGrad
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How many turnovers did Bledsoe have? And how many assists??
I'm sorry, but he continues to play at a regularly inconsistent level, and rarely, if ever at a level worthy of his contract, let alone his own perceptions of himself.
And I won't even mention his shooting... All I'll say is that Alex Len has a quicker, smoother J than Bledsoe. That's sad.
I want to see him develop into something special. I'd love for him to even come close to the level of player he believes he is. But once again and far too often, he underwhelms...
I'm sorry, but he continues to play at a regularly inconsistent level, and rarely, if ever at a level worthy of his contract, let alone his own perceptions of himself.
And I won't even mention his shooting... All I'll say is that Alex Len has a quicker, smoother J than Bledsoe. That's sad.
I want to see him develop into something special. I'd love for him to even come close to the level of player he believes he is. But once again and far too often, he underwhelms...
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How many turnovers did Bledsoe have? And how many assists??
I'm sorry, but he continues to play at a regularly inconsistent level, and rarely, if ever at a level worthy of his contract, let alone his own perceptions of himself.
And I won't even mention his shooting... All I'll say is that Alex Len has a quicker, smoother J than Bledsoe. That's sad.
I want to see him develop into something special. I'd love for him to even come close to the level of player he believes he is. But once again and far too often, he underwhelms...
His PER over the past 7 weeks or so is among the leagues best. In the time that he's raised his PER 3 full points, Goran has lowered his almost a point but again, it's Eric you go after. I don't know why you put yourself through this, you clearly have an issue with him.
Checking the stat sheet every now and then in an effort to validate your opinion of him has to be driving you nuts. Yes, his turnovers are worrisome, he's averaging 3.1 per game. His turnover to assist ratio is a paltry 1.89, just barely above Goran and Lebron. Considering how little he handles the ball (compared to other point guards) his turnover numbers are a real problem. But he was easily our best player last night and the night before and the night before and so on. Singling him out once again makes no sense.
It's interesting that our 3 best players this season have clearly been Bledsoe, Markieff and Thomas. If it were up to most posters here, they'd be the 3 players we'd get rid of first.
Steve
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I think he still plays tough D against most shooting guards. But he's understandably overmatched against the small forwards and the quick point guards always ate him up. The problem is that most point guards seem to be of the quicker variety these days so he doesn't match up well with very many of them. There just aren't as many Mark Jacksons or Kendall Marshalls in today's game.
Steve
82CardsGrad
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Yea... the stats are nice and all. But I also go by what I actually see on the court. 4 turnovers in the 1st quarter last night. A terrible way to start a game and set a tone.
He is often careless and reckless and makes WAY too many stupid decisions with the ball.
IMHO, he is sub-par as a shooter and again, I'll restate that for some reason, he takes a long time to get set and shoot. It's almost like he's in slow motion.
And while I don't have the actual stats to support this, my gut is that the numbers would show that he is average at best in 4th quarters... and probably worse.
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Yep, I can't argue with this. But if he were a little bit better ball handler and made minor improvements on the decision making front and was a slightly more consistent shooter he'd be a top 5 player in this league. And if all those things had happened 20 months ago we'd have never pried him away from the Clippers. We'd have had to settle for Chris Paul in that Dudley trade. All told though I think he is more than earning his salary. It seems to me that he does 3 horrible things and 20 great things and all you seem to see are the 3 horrible things.
And his turnovers didn't set the tone last night, he just added to the misery that was already happening. Also, who led the charge to get us back into the game and actually take the lead? We were on quite a roll till Alex sprained his ankle and Eric was the main reason for it.
Steve
82CardsGrad
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Yes... I agree... However, he believes he's a Top 5 or better guard. And he's not. And maybe I'm just gonna have to let it go and not expect him to be anymore than what he is today... But the gap between his own visions of himself and his actual level of play remains very large.
I dunno... I think starting a game off in such a non-productive, non-efficient and herky-jerky fashion does create a tone, and not a good one. Bad flow is contagious...
And, I believe Bledsoe had a hand in the comeback, but no more so than Len or Kief.
slinslin
Welcome to Amareca
Where did Bledsoe ever state that he thinks of himself as a top 5 or better guard.
Please source when you make up stuff like that.
Every PG commmits turnovers. Jason Kidd had his fair share of turnover triple doubles.
Cousins, Carter-Williams, Harden, Lebron, Kobe, Westbrook, Wall, Rose, Knight and Curry what do these players have in common? Oh yeah they all average more turnovers than Bledsoe considering he does not yet have a full season as starter under his belt and is expected to grow as a player during his contract.
And then you have Teague, Lillard, Rondo, Lawson right beneath him so yeah, Bledsoe averages a pretty normal amount of turnovers for a PG.
If you take into account defense and offense Bledsoe is certainly close to making a case for himself as a top 5 PG soon. He is most likely Top 10 right now.
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StreetTruckinTitan
You talkin' to me?
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The Suns have him playing out of his natural position. He struggles against bigger more physical players. Goran is clearly frustrated and not happy and I now expect him to to be wearing a different team jersey next season.
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I agree but he was playing this same position just a few weeks ago and he was clearly NOT frustrated and he was clearly happy too. And said so frequently. I don't know what's changed recently but until I hear something I'm leaning towards exhaustion. Maybe all the physical play having to fight through picks as an off guard/small forward is making it even harder for him to fight through his exhaustion? I just don't know. But every player in the league knows there's a price for playing year around, Dragic has now done that for a couple of seasons in a row.
Steve
82CardsGrad
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http://arizonasports.com/41/1751250...Bledsoe-still-wants-the-max-from-Phoenix-Suns
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Chris Broussard ✔ @Chris_Broussard Follow
Sources: Suns offered Eric Bledsoe 4-year, $48 million contract. Bledsoe wants max of 5 years, $80 million. Sides far apart
3:25 PM - 17 Jul 2014
1,091 Retweets 417 favorites
jbeecham
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I'm right there with you. I also dislike Bledsoe for holding the Suns hostage last summer, over-valuing himself after a 1/2 season of good basketball & demanding a max contract. I'm not happy that the Suns have taken the ball out of Dragic's hands... forcing him into a reduced role & playing out of position. Dragic's clearly not happy with it either and I don't expect him back on the Suns next year. This is a 3rd team all-NBA player last season that actually WANTED to play for the Suns & wasn't just all about the money like Bledsoe & we're driving him away.
