The Phoenix Suns have been one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this season after starting 21-13 this season, but their playoff hopes have taken a big hit with the injury to Eric Bledsoe, as he is out indefinitely with knee surgery and now names like Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, Dion Waiters and Danny Granger could be trade options for the franchise.
According to ESPN.com, Bledsoe will be out indefinitely after getting injured against the Los Angeles Clippers, his former team, and now after undergoing surgery he will miss some time for the Suns. Bledsoe has been one of the most improved players in the league this season and after getting a procedure on his knee, he will be sidelined for some time and this comes after he was traded from the Clippers to the Suns. Bledsoe has been out for the last four games while dealing with his knee issues and now the 24-year-old will be out and that could lead to the Suns making moves.
This season Bledsoe is averaging 18.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds and he has helped Goran Dragic develop into one of the better guards in the league and now the team will take a hit without Bledsoe in the lineup. Young is a player that the team has been rumored to be interested in and names like Evan Turner and Dion Waiters could be replacements for him in the short term. One advantage for the Suns is the fact that they have some extra draft picks after deals for Bledsoe and Luis Scola and that means they could afford to pull the trigger on a move closer to the deadline.
The Suns are in the eighth seed in the west and four games up on the number nine team and they will need to continue playing well in the deep west to get into the postseason and losing Bledsoe may hurt that. The injury to Bledsoe could be tough for the Suns to overcome, as Russell Westbrook had a similar procedure and was out six months, but his could be sooner than that. The team has some options in free agency in the short term, but a trade might be a better move with the way the team is playing and someone like Young could be had for a decent price, as he has two seasons and $19.4 million on his deal.