Eric Bledsoe wants max contract

[GMATCa]

I still wanna see how the Dragic and Bledsoe back court works before we go trading Dragic. I feel like Dragics 3 point shot isn't good enough for them to play together. But Dragic use to have a solid 3 point shot early in his career in Phoenix and for sometime in Houston. Lets see if he can get it back.

... agreed, definitely. If they gel, there would be three major advantages:

A) You enjoy improved flexibility and versatility in terms of running an offense, especially in transition. If you're playing multiple point guards simultaneously, your overall level of ball-handling, passing, and efficiency should improve and you can more readily attack a defense before it sets up. The major disadvantage would usually be on defense due to a lack of size, but Bledsoe seems pretty strong, while Dragic is fairly long and offers enough height. Thus one or both can defend most shooting guards. Versus a post-up shooting guard such as Kobe Bryant, the Suns could be at a disadvantage, but Bryant is thirty-five and those types of guards are now exceedingly rare. In today's NBA, even many big men can't effectively post-up, let alone the guards. Also, against someone such as Bryant, the Suns could scramble their defensive match-ups and allow a small forward like P.J. Tucker or Gerald Green to defend the shooting guard. After all, in today's NBA, there aren't even many post-up small forwards, very different from the eighties and nineties.

B) The sheer speed of a Gordon-Dragic back-court would be very difficult for defenses to deal with, especially in transition.

C) When one is resting, you always have the other (health provided), so that a dynamic lead guard is always on the court. Thus you minimize the drop offs that many teams suffer when shifting to a second unit.

 

[GMATCa]

Bledsoe looks like a superstar right now early in the season. His 3pt shot is actually not that bad. I feel like he was just cold to start the season. He is so good on the break, and can get to the line. We need to get rid of the Morris twins all there doing is chucking and guys like Archie wont be able to develop with that. I like everyone on this team but the Morris twins.

It's not bad, I agree. He could just stand to be a little more judicious in terms of not settling for the trey so often, when he could instead penetrate into space and shoot a pull-up jumper inside the arc. Developing his mid-range game would enhance Bledsoe's efficiency.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS TEAM! AGAIN WHY ARE WE WINNING. IS GREENE FINALLY BREAKING OUT? WTF!

 

[The Derski]

Bledsoe is playing like a max player as of late.

 

[Jonas_steven]

Try to keep it under 300 words or less GMAT. I really wanted to read your post!

 

[GMATCa]

WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS TEAM! AGAIN WHY ARE WE WINNING. IS GREENE FINALLY BREAKING OUT? WTF!

Green has looked very good. I liked his acquisition to begin with, and his combination of length and leaping ability allow him to release his three-point shot very easily, especially in transition. Get Green on the break, and there's almost no way to effectively contest his shots, much like J.R. Smith. Green possesses Shawn Marion-type athleticism; with more of a slashing game, he could be in consideration for an All-Star berth. Through four games (a small sample, obviously), Green is shooting .522 on threes (12-22).

Beating a New Orleans team that should be better than the Suns, on the road and without Dragic, is impressive, if not in the interests of the Wiggins sweepstakes. The fact that the Suns are 3-1 and have seemed superior to other teams in their 'class' (Portland, Utah, New Orleans) suggests to me that Phoenix came out of training camp with greater readiness than other clubs on their level. Whether that advantage will last as the season progresses is debatable, but Phoenix has surrounded Bledsoe with plenty of three-point shooting and that combination meshes dangerously well. Bledsoe isn't a younger Nash in terms of overall point guard play (his assists-to-turnover ratio now stands at 1.41:1.00), but that type of concept worked wonders in the D'Antoni days.

I was writing earlier about how much the game has changed in terms of opening the floor with well-spaced three-point shooters, dovetailing with the modern defensive three seconds rule and the abolition of forearm/hand-checking, to thin defensive resistance. Eighteen years ago, Phoenix head coach Paul Westphal actually banned the entire team from shooting three-pointers prior to a game versus Vancouver, partly because there was only one natural three-point shooter on the roster (Wesley Person) and partly to keep Charles Barkley from shooting them.

12/05/1995 NBA Box Score at PHO - basketballreference.com

Could you imagine watching a Suns' game from the last decade with Phoenix only attempting one three-pointer under a coach's decree not to shoot them at all? (And that one attempt, by Kevin Johnson, probably constituted an end-of-quarter heave or end-of-shot clock chuck off a broken play.)

But if you possess the personnel to shoot threes effectively and spread the court for a penetrator, you can create a sleek machine.

 

[GMATCa]

... agreed, definitely. If they gel, there would be three major advantages:

A) You enjoy improved flexibility and versatility in terms of running an offense, especially in transition. If you're playing multiple point guards simultaneously, your overall level of ball-handling, passing, and efficiency should improve and you can more readily attack a defense before it sets up. The major disadvantage would usually be on defense due to a lack of size, but Bledsoe seems pretty strong, while Dragic is fairly long and offers enough height. Thus one or both can defend most shooting guards. Versus a post-up shooting guard such as Kobe Bryant, the Suns could be at a disadvantage, but Bryant is thirty-five and those types of guards are now exceedingly rare. In today's NBA, even many big men can't effectively post-up, let alone the guards. Also, against someone such as Bryant, the Suns could scramble their defensive match-ups and allow a small forward like P.J. Tucker or Gerald Green to defend the shooting guard. After all, in today's NBA, there aren't even many post-up small forwards, very different from the eighties and nineties.

B) The sheer speed of a Gordon-Dragic back-court would be very difficult for defenses to deal with, especially in transition.

C) When one is resting, you always have the other (health provided), so that a dynamic lead guard is always on the court. Thus you minimize the drop offs that many teams suffer when shifting to a second unit.

That said, my original point was that if Phoenix feels as if it needs to free up money in order to sign Bledsoe to a max contract and also ink some front-court free agent who could take the team to another level, then the possibility of dealing Dragic always exists.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

Yea I also don't think the Dragic and Bledsoe back court works. When one is running the point guard the other is standing out and spotting up? We don't want Bledsoe to spot up for a 3. I say on the break give it to what ever point guard is closest. But in our half court offense spread Dragic out to a Wing and if hes open hit him for a 3 or if Bledsoe has nothing by the end of the shot clock give it to Dragic and let him work. Only way this is going to work. Dragic needs to get his 3 point shot back.

 

[Orange602]

Yea I also don't think the Dragic and Bledsoe back court works. When one is running the point guard the other is standing out and spotting up? We don't want Bledsoe to spot up for a 3. I say on the break give it to what ever point guard is closest. But in our half court offense spread Dragic out to a Wing and if hes open hit him for a 3 or if Bledsoe has nothing by the end of the shot clock give it to Dragic and let him work. Only way this is going to work. Dragic needs to get his 3 point shot back.

We haven't even seen Bledsoe and Dragic play on the court together for a significant amount of time. You can't say that it's not going to work based on 3 games.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

We haven't even seen Bledsoe and Dragic play on the court together for a significant amount of time. You can't say that it's not going to work based on 3 games.

I know enough that Bledsoe is better without Dragic. Bledsoe needs the ball in his hands, Dragic needs to develop a consistent 3 point jumper.

 

[GMATCa]

Try to keep it under 300 words or less GMAT. I really wanted to read your post!

... sometimes I enjoy digging into the nitty-gritty. Read two paragraphs per day.

 

[FORKWDEVIL]

Last few games looks like I would give him the max

Eric!!!!!!

 

[GMATCa]

Yea I also don't think the Dragic and Bledsoe back court works. When one is running the point guard the other is standing out and spotting up? We don't want Bledsoe to spot up for a 3. I say on the break give it to what ever point guard is closest. But in our half court offense spread Dragic out to a Wing and if hes open hit him for a 3 or if Bledsoe has nothing by the end of the shot clock give it to Dragic and let him work. Only way this is going to work. Dragic needs to get his 3 point shot back.

Since Bledsoe is more explosive and Dragic possesses experience running off down-screens (remember that he would sometimes fill that role while playing with Kendall Marshall late last season), I concur that Bledsoe should have the ball in his hands more. But one thing that the Suns can do is get into their half-court sets early in the shot clock. One of the two guards can run a pick-and-roll/pop on one of the wings, and if it doesn't produce anything, you swing the ball to the other guard on the other wing and now he can run a pick-and-roll/pop against a softened-up defense. Additionally, you can make more use of a secondary driver/playmaker. For instance, most off-ball perimeter players nowadays are pretty much standstill three-point shooters. A few give you some slashing ability, too, but if Dragic or Bledsoe is off-the ball, now he can not only shoot the outside shot, but take advantage of a scrambling, rotating defense to attack the basket and either finish or create another opportunity for a teammate. That's more how guys could play back in the day, when they'd spent more time in college and developed their court sense and skill level to a much higher extent. The ball would move and snap around and many different players could take advantage of a scrambling defense to score or set up a teammate. This Phoenix box score from November 29, 1991, can give you an idea (maybe Hornacek's best performance):

11/29/1991 NBA Box Score at PHO - basketballreference.com

The same goes for this one from April 18, 1997:

04/18/1997 NBA Box Score at SAS - basketballreference.com

Actually, in the last 43 regular season games where Kevin Johnson and Jason Kidd played together and K.J. played at least 30 minutes, the Suns went 35-8 (.814), a 67-win pace. Granted, you're talking about Hall of Fame-level guards in that case, and K.J. constituted a better shooter than either Bledsoe or Dragic. But two point guards can thrive together. Also consider that the Lakers reached three NBA Finals in four years (and won two championships) from 1980-1983 with point guards Magic Johnson and Norm Nixon starting in the same back-court, and even the Denver Nuggets went 16-5 (.762) in the regular season with Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton playing quite a few minutes together (albeit not starting together) in 2011. Another successful two-point guard lineup back in the day consisted of Fat Lever and tiny Michael Adams for the Nuggets, who won 54 games in '87-'88.

1987-88 Denver Nuggets Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

Not only can you be more fluid and flexible in the half-court with two point guards, but you can avoid playing half-court basketball more often. Not playing against a set defense is theoretically the most efficient way to score, but the problem is that most current teams don't possess enough players on the floor who can handle the ball well and make sound decisions at high speeds. With two point guards, you alleviate that concern while igniting the engine more easily.

The good thing is that this season is like a laboratory experiment for the Suns. They can see how the Bledsoe-Dragic pairing works, give it months to develop, and if it still fails to function smoothly, a trade is always an option, possibly as part of a complicated maneuver at the deadline, possibly at the draft next June.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

GMAT > ESPN

 

[besaesa]

Hey guys just wanted to say hello and give my thoughts. I think you guys should wait and see how Bledsoe does the full year before giving him a max contract. The verdict is still out on how good he will be and he has the talent but Phoenix needs to be careful so that if he doesnt pan out you guys aren't screwed. My question is even if he ends up earning a max contract, will Sarver pay him?

 

[Cobiemonster]

I think Dragic does get moved at some point simply because as Bledsoe evolves, you'll want him at the PG spot where he can facilitate and use all of his skills

The reason why they have both Bledsoe and Dragic together is because they have to play that way in order to have any success, or at least be competitive - certain teams have to play a certain style with the talent or the pieces they currently have

For example, Houston had to play up-tempo last year because they didn't have a low-post presence - now that they have Dwight, they can change the way they play a little bit

 

[GMATCa]

I know enough that Bledsoe is better without Dragic. Bledsoe needs the ball in his hands, Dragic needs to develop a consistent 3 point jumper.

Bledsoe is better without Dragic at this point, and maybe long-term. However, we need to see how they look after playing together for a longer period of time.

The thing about Dragic is that he's probably always been at his best as a pure improviser. As someone playing off the ball more often and able to make spontaneous plays against a scrambling defense, he could function very effectively.

But we'll have to see if it works that way. What makes sense in theory won't necessarily manifest itself in actuality if players don't adjust and generate sufficient enthusiasm and aggression in their adjusted, sparser roles.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

I think Dragic does get moved at some point simply because as Bledsoe evolves, you'll want him at the PG spot where he can facilitate and use all of his skills

The reason why they have both Bledsoe and Dragic together is because they have to play that way in order to have any success, or at least be competitive - certain teams have to play a certain style with the talent or the pieces they currently have

For example, Houston had to play up-tempo last year because they didn't have a low-post presence - now that they have Dwight, they can change the way they play a little bit

I think they'll move Dragic on draft night with one of their late first rounders to move up the draft board and add another top 16 pick. That's my prediction.

 

[GMATCa]

GMAT > ESPN

Thanks, and I agree ... but that's actually less about my ego and more about the charade of ESPN. ESPN is in the business of pitching an NBA product (or various strands of a product, such as John Hollinger's laughably fallacious PER), not of seriously and objectively analyzing the game, or really discussing the dynamics of the game. The result is an endless promotional machine masquerading as insight and analysis.

And the overall basketball media is that way, unfortunately.

 

[JahiiCarson_SqodGeneral]

Or they trade Frye and pay for a young athletic wing in free agency. I like Evan Turner alot.