Rumors of a sign-and-trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns involving Suns restricted free agent guard Eric Bledsoe and the Lakers' No. 1 pick in 2014 Julius Randle (No. 7 overall) have heated up this week, but Phoenix executives are publicly saying they expect to retain Bledsoe.
"We'll continue to work as hard as we can within that restricted free agency system established by the collective bargaining agreement," Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said Monday to AZCentral.com "We continue to hope and expect that he will remain in a Suns uniform."
Bledsoe is seeking something near a max contract from the Suns while the team has offered a four-year, $48 million deal in line with what Kyle Lowry received from the Toronto Raptors. Last season Bledsoe had a career year that coincided with his increased minutes-he averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game.
There's also the matter of Phoenix's logjam in the backcourt-without Bledsoe signed, they retained Goran Dragic, signed Isaiah Thomas from the Sacramento Kings, and drafted Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis. According to head coach Jeff Hornacek though, there isn't expected to be any issues with minutes.
"We expect Goran and Eric and Isaiah to be pushing the ball up the court like they did last year," Hornacek said. "We'll swing the ball from side to side where Isaiah can come off and create a shot or a play. They're going to have to make decisions. If they double one of those two guys, we're going to move the ball around and that's when Anthony comes into play and drills 3s.
"You hear the three-headed monster about big guys all the time. Well, maybe we've got the three-headed monster in the guards."
Perhaps Ennis will have to wait his turn for some floor time.
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