I’m not going to lie, I thought the Phoenix Suns were going to be one of the worst teams in the NBA this past season. Instead, the Suns made a 23-game improvement finishing 14-games over five hundred. Unfortunately, that type of turnaround still wasn’t enough to get Phoenix into the Western Conference playoffs which really stings since they would have been tied for the third best record had they been an Eastern Conference team.
Did they overachieve or are second year general manager Ryan McDonough and head Jeff Hornacek rebuilding this franchise much quicker than expected? Making some wise moves this off-season could be the boost the Suns need to get into the top eight in the West and that all starts with the status of restricted free agent, Eric Bledsoe.
Phoenix Suns (48-34 last year)
2014-15 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Miles Plumlee/Alex Len
PF: ^Channing Frye/Markieff Morris/Marcus Morris/#Shavlik Randolph
SF: *P.J. Tucker/Gerald Green
SG: Goran Dragic/Archie Goodwin/#Dionte Christmas
PG: *Eric Bledsoe/#Ish Smith
NBA Free Agents:
*PG-Eric Bledsoe (RFA)
*SF-P.J. Tucker (RFA)
^PF-Channing Frye (PO)
#PG-Ish Smith (TO)
#PF-Shavlik Randolph (TO)
#SG-Dionte Christmas
C-Emeka Okafor (UFA)
SG-Leandro Barbosa (UFA)
C-Slava Kravtsov (UFA)
2014-15 Team Salary: approximately $29.5 million
Team Needs:
1. Re-sign Bledsoe:
Eric Bledsoe was hampered by injury during his first year in the desert which did cut his season in half. However, he showed enough to deserve a monster raise this off-season and proved to be a tremendous running mate for Goran Dragic even through both are technically point guards.
Keeping Bledsoe won’t be cheap since multiple NBA teams would love to sign a talented, young point guard. The good news for Phoenix is that they do have the option to match any contract Bledsoe would sign since he is a restricted free agent and have the cap flexibility to do so without breaking the bank.
Another option would be working a sign-and-trade with Bledsoe in hopes of strengthening other areas of weakness on the roster. Phoenix has the luxury of already boasting a more than capable starting point guard in Dragic so they could flip Bledsoe into other assets. It’s a good problem for McDonaugh and the front office to have.
2. Wing Scorers:
With three first round picks in the 2014 NBA Draft, this should be a focal point for management on draft night especially since starting small forward P.J. Tucker is a restricted free agent. Even if Tucker is retained, he and Gerald Green are not long-term answers on the wing for Phoenix and they could still use improved depth. Depending on what happens with Bledsoe and Channing Frye who hold a team option on the final year of his deal, the Suns could also be aggressive with their cap space in free agency and make a run at a skilled veteran to help fill this void.
3. Frontcourt Depth:
If Frye opts out of his contract and becomes a free agent, that leaves Phoenix with the Morris twins, Miles Plumlee, and Alex Len up-front. That is a solid young core but the Suns would be smart to add a veteran to the mix who can bring some low post scoring to the floor.
OTHER NBA OFF-SEASON TEAM NEEDS PAGES:
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.