Report: Suns sign Eric Bledsoe to 5-year, $70M contract
Eric Bledsoe's summer-long game of chicken with the Phoenix Suns appears to have come to a close, and it looks as if the restricted free agent's gamble has paid off.
On Wednesday, the Suns signed Bledsoe to a five-year deal worth $70 million, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and corroborated by ESPN. The deal is said to contain no player or team options.
This has to be looked at as a victory for Bledsoe and agent Rich Paul, who many thought would be left to sign a one-year, $3.7 million qualifying offer in order to try their hand at unrestricted free agency next summer. With Bledsoe having little leverage beyond that move, this agreement shows that the Suns see Bledsoe as a valuable part of their core moving forward and weren't willing to risk losing him for nothing next summer.
Bledsoe's camp had been seeking a four-year, $63 million maximum extension, far from the four-year, $48 million deal the Suns had reportedly tabled. The fifth year allows the Suns to move on the total dollar figure without going all the way on annual salary. The $14 million annual value is more reasonable than the maximum, and falls in line with Bledsoe's expected value, if he stays healthy.
That last point is really the key here. Bledsoe has obvious talent, even if he's only played at a star level for half a season or so, but the Suns are taking on some risk with his deal given Bledsoe's spotty injury history. Phoenix - known for having one of the best medical staffs in all of sports - know his medical history best, and appear comfortable with the meniscus surgery Bledsoe underwent last season.
All of which amounts to this: the Suns are betting on health and potential. If Bledsoe hits on both of those, this deal could end up looking fair later on, even if it stands out as a possible overpay immediately. It also protects the Suns to some degree in the event that guard Goran Dragic, himself an unrestricted free agent next summer, leaves or becomes too expensive.
In the meantime, the pair have proven very effective together, and the addition of Isaiah Thomas in free agency doesn't necessarily leave them with too many point guards, considering the system they play with, and the ability of Bledsoe and Dragic to spot at the two.