I'd be worried about his injury history, but otherwise he'd be a good target. I initially wrote him off as a sure bet to re up with Phoenix, but as OP pointed out, seems kinda strange to have him and Dragic in their plans, and then draft another point guard. I think you also have to remember Phoenix owner has a history of being cheap. His thinking may be, "hey, we almost made the playoffs even though we spent way under the limit. Let's try to resign our guys and add maybe one cheap vet and maybe that'll be enough to make it. If Bledsoe asks for too much then oh well, let him go. He was hurt parts of last season and we still did well anyway." Assuming Phoenix doesn't resign Bledsoe, one wonders who would throw big money after him. He's a young talent for sure, but there are so many good point guards out there, how many teams with cap space would be interested in him? Perhaps a team that whiffs on Lebron/Melo/superstar x sweepstakes?
I'm bored at work too, so here's the market for Bledsoe, team by team: We are capped out and have no shot list: Nets Knicks Pacers Thunder Pelicans- you could say they are committed to Holiday, but I think they would trade Gordon to Phoenix for a sign and trade if Phoenix would do it (but they wouldn't). So I think the salary cap is the real barrier here. We are committed to our veteran point guard list Celtics- or young point guard, hard to tell after they picked Marcus Smart. Spurs Wizards Bulls Warriors Blazers Nuggets Clippers Grizzlies We are committed to our young point guard list 76ers- well, maybe not, but they definitely dont seem to want their best players actually playing for them this season. Jazz- Burke and/or Exum Magic- Elfrid Payton Cavs- Irving Timberwolves- Rubio Contingency Plan List: Dallas- Not ideal, since they think they can get Devin Harris back at a cheaper rate, but his defense would complement Monta Ellis pretty well. They'd probably be forced to go with Marion again at SF because I don't think they'd have the money for much better. Mayyybbbee have enough money for Ariza. Heat- If the big 3 fall apart? If they take less money so Heat can afford more talent he could be in play, but it would probably still require him to take a paycut, and I doubt he'd take one unless he had to since he hasn't landed that big payday yet. I think Lowry would be more likely to fill that role. Rockets- Reports say Houston would go after Lowry if they whiff on superstars, so why not Bledsoe? Not ideal, but he is young, complements Harden's game. I'd want him over Rondo if only because getting Rondo would probably mean trading away Parsons to Boston. I'd definitely want him over Deron Williams if that avenue was still open. Raptors- Perhaps if Lowry is successfully signed away from Toronto they see Bledsoe as a replacement? Lakers- I'm divided on this. If they can't get Melo/Lebron I could almost just see them saying screw you Kobe we're not getting a consolation prize, we'll keep our cap space and try again next summer. ?? Suns- really, they should just re-up him, obviously. Kings- they don't have enough cap room (prob about $66M according to hoopshype) but their owner is super aggressive and they need a point guard. I could see them making a few cap clearing moves and trying to sign Bledsoe for lots of money. It wouldn't be their worse move ever. Bucks- Seems like they are committed to rebuilding, but they do have the cap space if they change their mind. Pistons- Jennings clearly isn't good enough to be irreplaceable, and the Pistons have loads of cap space. Why not go after Bledsoe with it? Probably because they want to re-sign their own guy, Greg Monroe first, and adding Bledsoe to a team that can't shoot at all would probably not be the best idea. Hornets- Is Bledsoe an upgrade over Kemba? Yes. But enough of one that it's worth spending tons of money on him? Probably not. As you can see through my cursory research, there are very few teams that have 1) a need at point guard, 2) cap space, 3) desire to spend. Phoenix has said they won't wait to match an offer, but it almost seems like it would be in their best interest to let the market set his value. Unless they have inside information that a team like sacramento will make moves to get him, a team like detroit will throw money his way regardless of it being a bad fit, or that a team like Houston would see him as a consolation prize, it would seem as though his market may not be in the max territory.
Bledsoe is younger and better than Dragic but he was he was injured and Dragic had an amazing season. The Suns could have a dilemma on their hands on deciding who to keep unless they truly believe in playing the two together. Either one would be a nice trade target but I like the idea of getting Dragic and Millsap. That potentially keeps 2015 cap room alive.
Bledsoe is younger, but he already had two knee surgeries and was most certainly not better then Dragic last year. We'll see what happens in the future. There's no dilemma about keeping them together, they were one of the best back courts in the league and the suns won more than 2/3 of their games when both were healthy.
