Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
The Phoenix Suns have spoken and they mean business.
That was quite apparent on Tuesday when the team announced that it had picked up one of the NBA‘s best young point guards in Eric Bledsoe in a three-team deal in which the Suns sent Jared Dudley to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Milwaukee Bucks moved J.J. Redick to Los Angeles.
The Suns get Bledsoe and Caron Butler from the Clippers. Milwaukee also gets two second-round draft picks.
It’s an excellent deal for Phoenix and new coach Jeff Hornack to blend in with what they hope is an effective uptempo offense. Phoenix announced that it now has Bledsoe, who is a player a lot of teams wanted, and the Suns were fortunate to get him. They will try to sign him to a contract extension and even if they don’t ink him to a deal by the end of October, they still have his rights as a restricted free agent next summer.
The Suns like what they saw of Bledsoe this season. He was the 18th pick in the 2010 draft and at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, had been playing better basketball. He averaged 20.4 minutes, 8.5 points, 3.1 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals this past season. The Clippers used him as a starter 12 times and during the tenure, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.3 blocks.
What the Suns will like about Bledsoe is that he was a 44 percent shooter in 3-pointers. He’s excellent on defense, blocking shots and rebounding well. It all adds up to a good deal for the Suns, who also get a good 33-year-old veteran in Butler, who averaged 10.4 points, 2.9 rebounds a game and shot 42.4 percent from the floor.
It was a great day Tuesday to be a Suns fan.
