The Phoenix Suns now have one of the deepest backcourts in the league. The team announced the signing of Eric Bledsoe to a long-term, five-year contract securing the point guard after a round of negotiations in free agency. The Suns now have several point guards on the roster entering the 2014 season which opens them up to several trades come the mid-season deadline. Who will stay and who will go.
Bledsoe won out in the contract standoff between the point guard and the Phoenix Suns. He inked a five-year, $70 million contract as reported by ESPN.com. Bledsoe wanted a max deal and he got it. The Suns folded after the Minnesota Timberwolves began pressuring the team for a sign-and-trade on the point guard. While negotiating with Bledsoe, the Suns picked up Isaiah Thomas while drafting Archie Goodwin and Tyler Ennis to go along with recent star Goran Dragic. Will a trade be made now that Bledsoe is sticking around?
According to Arizona Republic, the Suns have every intention of re-sign Dragic next summer despite the interest from other teams. Dragic has the opportunity to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer after already stating he would opt out of his player option. He noted that he intentions were to re-sign with the Suns, but after the checkbooks were brought out for Beldsoe, will that be possible?
"We don't have many long-term commitments," Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said, via the Arizona Republic. "We have every intention of keeping Goran in a Suns uniform as long as possible. We know he loves Phoenix. There's plenty of money for Goran next year or when it comes up. We fully anticipate taking care of him."
Bledsoe and Thomas take up a lot of salary space for the point guard position. If Dragic has a big season, he is going to want a nice pay check sent his way and Phoenix might not be able to invest that much money into him. He would immediately become on the best available point guards on the market behind Rajon Rondo and possible Ricky Rubio. The Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets will all be looking to fill that spot on their respective rosters and if Phoenix is unwilling to give Dragic the money, someone else will.
