Max Bledsoe: Budding Superstar or Overpaid Turnover Machine?

[GreenBear]

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns have reached an agreement with PG Eric Bledsoe to a four-year max contract extension, it was officially announced by general manager GreenBear. The deal will start in the 2014-2015 season and go through the 2017-2018 season. The earlier reported salary was off very slightly, and the actual salary is being reported as follows:

Year 1: $13,668,750
Year 2: $14,693,907
Year 3: $15,719,063
Year 4: $16,744,219

When asked about the extension, GreenBear gushed over Bledsoe:

“I know that some of my general managers think that I jumped the gun a bit by signing him (Bledsoe) to a max extension during the season since he was going to be a restricted free agent, and there’s a lot of wisdom there that I’ll certainly take into consideration in the future. But our management agreed that we wanted to make Bledsoe the face of the franchise for years to come.”

Bledsoe shows his defensive abilities, like the game he had 8 blocks against the Minnesota Timberwolves

Bledsoe, 23, has started every game at PG for the Suns so far this season and has mostly sparkled since former teammate PG Goran Dragic was traded to the Celtics earlier this season. He is currently averaging 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game offensively on 47% shooting overall and 57% shooting from behind the arc. His defense has been just as stellar, while averaging 1.5 steals, 1.5 blocks per game, on top of a 100% drive-stop percentage, and 0.7 PA/SF.

While Bledsoe brings a plethora of positives to the team, he is not without an ugly flaw. He has struggled mightily so far this season turning over the ball at a league-leading 5.5 turnovers/game, but the Suns’ management feels that Bledsoe will improve in that area over time. GreenBear had this to say about Bledsoe’s development:

“Bledsoe is a special player that brings so much to the table: scoring, shooting efficiency, rebounding, finding open teammates, and all-around defense. Is he a perfect player? No, he needs to take care of the ball a bit better, but he knows he needs to work on his turnovers and Coach Collins has already begun working on trimming that number. Collins is one of the best in the business at developing players and helping them reach their true potential, so I have no doubt Bledsoe will only get better.”

Can Bledsoe overcome his turnover tendencies?

Can Bledsoe live up to his max contract extension? Only time will tell for sure, but with many scouts reporting that Bledsoe still has a lot of potential to get even better, and with one of the best player-development coaches in Collins working with Bledsoe on a daily basis, it appears that the Suns have no doubt that he’ll live up to this contract.

[dapralbe]

I think it's very good but I would put sg but is low since it makes up for with strength and jumping power, the maximum seems to me too, low hdl if you play with the base, you must play the maximum rate and leave to counterattack with something like 60 hdl Dragic is very little for a solid base, but this is my humble opinion.

[Dennis]

Not overpaid, "payday" was just to "early".
His handling is actually way to low (on John Walls level), but according to my scouts he has still potentials left (~71-75). And ~71 are solid handlings for a point guard.

[Marcos_Beck]

Rose Is turning the ball over 2.4 times a game with 69 handling.. So I think he'll be just fine.

[GreenBear]

Not overpaid, "payday" was just to "early".
His handling is actually way to low (on John Walls level), but according to my scouts he has still potentials left (~71-75). And ~71 are solid handlings for a point guard.

Yeah, you're absolutely right that a lot depends on what his handling ends up at. Based off the 3 scouting systems I've looked at (2 from the shared preseason scouting ratings, and 1 from my team's scouting), his handling potential is 65, 76, and 79. Right now it's at ~60. So I'm hoping that it gets up into the mid-high 70s, especially with Collins developing him. But if he only improves a little in handling (say mid 60s), my fallback plan is to make him a combo-guard or full-time SG (depending on what PG I can pick up). Either way, he's still great at scoring, an elite defender, and a surprisingly solid rebounder (considering he's only 6'1).

And yes, I don't think he'll ever be on John Wall's level at running an offense haha.

[Dennis]

Rose Is turning the ball over 2.4 times a game with 69 handling.. So I think he'll be just fine.

Yeah Rondo has 67 handling. I assume experience influences turnover maybe too. (so many things we will never know for sure, haha. damn engine)

Not overpaid, "payday" was just to "early".
His handling is actually way to low (on John Walls level), but according to my scouts he has still potentials left (~71-75). And ~71 are solid handlings for a point guard.

Yeah, you're absolutely right that a lot depends on what his handling ends up at. Based off the 3 scouting systems I've looked at (2 from the shared preseason scouting ratings, and 1 from my team's scouting), his handling potential is 65, 76, and 79. Right now it's at ~60. So I'm hoping that it gets up into the mid-high 70s, especially with Collins developing him. But if he only improves a little in handling (say mid 60s), my fallback plan is to make him a combo-guard or full-time SG (depending on what PG I can pick up). Either way, he's still great at scoring, an elite defender, and a surprisingly solid rebounder (considering he's only 6'1).

And yes, I don't think he'll ever be on John Wall's level at running an offense haha.

Yeah, was referring to SA and BOS scouts with my range. Believe he will be fine and absolutely worth a max. Given he develops. DDS learncurve is a mystery. He's already playing his 4th season but is only 23. So lets see what happens with his potentials during next update.

[Marcos_Beck]

Rose Is turning the ball over 2.4 times a game with 69 handling.. So I think he'll be just fine.

Yeah Rondo has 67 handling. I assume experience influences turnover maybe too. (so many things we will never for sure, haha. damn engine).

Hell yeah, bro, damn engine hahaha

[Jake0890]

If you plan on keeping Bledsoe at PG, you're just gonna have to learn to live with the turnovers, because he'll always turn the ball over a lot. But since you have Ish Smith with an 80 HDL rating, you may want to experiment with an ultra small lineup with him at PG, Bledsoe at SG, and Bradley at SF. Honestly, the way HDL ratings were redone is a little weird with guys like Eric Maynor and Ish Smith having higher HDL ratings than CP3, Wall, Rondo and Rose, which doesn't make any sense.

But I think I've made Dennis have a vendetta against Wall now that I insulted the beloved Dragic.

[dapralbe]

rondo lost enough good balls seem muchoa 3 me taking the next Dragic ual has 77 pas and scoring, which are the ratings that determine touches. dennis a question few have rondo and Dragic touches per 36 minutes?

[dapralbe]

what jake hdl set properly, because they have much usage and touch, if you put a lot back to the mistakes of the past, if you look closely resembles real life possible losses. and although maynor ish and have much hdl lose balls because they have other ratings decompensated

[Dennis]

But I think I've made Dennis have a vendetta against Wall now that I insulted the beloved Dragic.

Nope, but Wall 4.6 TO, Bledsoe 5 TO.

@daprable, Rondo 75,1 Touches, Dragic 74 Touches per game

[Jake0890]

But I think I've made Dennis have a vendetta against Wall now that I insulted the beloved Dragic.

Nope, but Wall 4.6 TO, Bledsoe 5 TO.

@daprable, Rondo 75,1 Touches, Dragic 74 Touches

But when you said Bledsoe had a HDL rating on "Wall's level", that's a little misleading. Bledsoe is 61, Wall is 65, and Rondo is 67. If anyone is "on Wall's level" it's Rondo, he's closer to Wall than Bledsoe is. And you make it sound like it's a bad thing to be like John Wall.

Obviously Wall's turnovers are a bit worrisome, but a lot of that has to do with me running 10 pace while you run 7 so Rondo is going to have fewer turnovers. TOs aren't just based on his low(er) HDL rating.

[Dennis]

But I think I've made Dennis have a vendetta against Wall now that I insulted the beloved Dragic.

Nope, but Wall 4.6 TO, Bledsoe 5 TO.

@daprable, Rondo 75,1 Touches, Dragic 74 Touches

But when you said Bledsoe had a HDL rating on "Wall's level", that's a little misleading. Bledsoe is 61, Wall is 65, and Rondo is 67. If anyone is "on Wall's level" it's Rondo, he's closer to Wall than Bledsoe is. And you make it sound like it's a bad thing to be like John Wall.

Obviously Wall's turnovers are a bit worrisome, but a lot of that has to do with me running 10 pace while you run 7 so Rondo is going to have fewer turnovers.

Actually its the following way:

Faster offensive pace means - more possessions which means more shots for both teams, as well as tiring players faster and making them more foul/injury prone. It also will mean more shots for the guards, and usually more 3s, as they are just taking the first good shot possible. Faster pace requires good shooters higher IQ.

Slower offensive pace means - less possessions which means less shots for both teams. Players can play longer. The offense will look to dump in the post a whole lot more, so teams with big men will want to slow the pace down. Requires good ball handling and passing, as the ball will be moved around more to find the best possible shot.

But rondo has to improve his Ball handling too. As soon as Wall is developed he will be a good playmaker. (At least if my potentials are true)

Ps: we should close the dragic/wall case now .. But to make it easier, Rondo/Wall have both a 0.04 TO/TCH rating, Dragic for example 0.021, Bledsoe 0.057. So Wall actually turns it over at Rondos level and your argument Wall~Rondo is more accurate than my Wall~Bledsoe:)

[KW]

I would definitely slide Bledsoe over to SG. Just try a few different things and see what is best for the team. 5.5 turnovers per game is just an absurdly high number that will eventually come down, I'm sure of it. His handling and IQ ratings aren't that low and his pass rating is actually quite high, so I'm sure it will normalize a little bit, but I definitely would try to get the ball out of his hands full-time, and have him split time between the guard positions and if all else fails, slow your offensive pace a little bit.

He's quite the talent, but I'm not sure I'd give a max offer to him. I would have waited for free agency and matched whatever offer he got.

[WillyJakkz]

I very very briefly thought about Eric Bledsoe as a Magician target this offseason but couldn't afford to max him out for my particular team situation but I really like him as a player and it's good you locked him up early this way there is no uncertainty about him heading into next season.

Gonna be interesting to see how you handle Avery Bradley's impending FA as he is similar to Bledsoe.

TO-wise it may not entirely be his fault, teammates can have an affect on this as well and surrounding him with a proper cast may see a decrease in his TO's (like a catch and shoot guy for instance instead of another perimeter guy who drives alot).

[orangeparka]

60 hdl is really low for a PG leading a high-paced offense. Even in oCSL's lower HDL universe it's still really low.

Hopefully he can improve that. It's literally his only flaw and he's such a force on both sides of the ball, well worth the max IMO (difference being you can be worth the max and still get lower than the max if the market goes your way).

I think playing him at SG until he gets better handling the ball isn't a bad idea either.

[emplep7]

Unfortunately hes not a true PG and I don't think he should be played that way. I like Bledsoe a decent amount and would put him at SG from day one and keep him there. Its where he will be the most effective. That said, its a lot to offer a SG where they aren't that hard to come by. His handles will always be a problem and hes not a Rondo or Wall where they have high passing ratings to get you high assist numbers. Either way, hes still a solid player.

As for maxing him mid-season, I know some GMs don't agree, but there really is zero benefit to doing this in the game. In real life where personalities are more involved then yeah, but hes restricted so even if someone offers him the max in the off-season you can match it. You could have maybe saved some money in future years and saved some money to offer other free agents money while you wait to match any offer, but everyone does things differently. It also makes him not able to be traded now which is something you don't want to handcuff yourself to in case you get offered a great deal, but you seem to want to build around him so if hes your player you want for that then it doesn't matter much I guess.