NBA Rumors: Will 76ers Pursue Suns’ Bledsoe or Knight

Bryan Colangelo has long standing ties with the Phoenix Suns, can he parlay those ties to turn NBA Rumors to trade for either Eric Bledsoe or Brandon Knight

Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers have one point guard, T.J. McConnell is the only one currently on the active roster.  Right now the Philadelphia 76ers are set up to do up to three max deals and that is certainly an incredible position to be in as a building team.  Right now the Philadelphia 76ers have just brought on one of the better NBA draft classes to the franchise.

But the team is far from finished.

While the fit of the team appears to be heading the right direction with the 2016 NBA draft which netted point forward Ben Simmons, wing man Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and guard Furkan Korkmaz, all of whom project to fill a vital need of the team going forward, the Philadelphia 76ers remain a very young team on paper.

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Young, that is, until the team enters free agency and have an opportunity to execute NBA trades. The Philadelphia 76ers are in the market for back court help.  While they are rumored to be in hot pursuit of Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard  Jordan Clarkson, that could result in the Los Angeles Lakers simply matching the offer and Clarkson remaining with the team.

The Philadelphia 76ers need a plan B.  And that could lead Bryan Colangelo to give a call to his former team, the Phoenix Suns.

As it stands right now, the Phoenix Suns could be quite content with their current situation coming out of the 2016 NBA Draft.  They landed power forward Dragan Bender, power forward Marquese Chriss and  point guard Tyler Ulis, all of whom stand to compete for playing time.

Next: Logjam

Logjam

But the Suns have a logjam in the back court at a level of the Philadelphia 76ers struggle to find playing minutes for their trio of centers in the front court.  Suprisingly, nobody is discussing the Phoenix Suns necessity of moving one of their point guards.   Particularly in comparison to the wave of commentary and rumors over the expectation of the Philadelphia 76ers need to move a center, despite the minutes restrictions for Joel Embiid, the short 54-game season for Jahlil Okafor, and the ever changing role for Nerlens Noel.

With the arrival of Ulis, the Phoenix Suns could and should explore dealing either Knight or Bledsoe now.  You see, there are only so many spots on a roster for a point guard, and in the 2015-2016 season, the Phoenix Suns had maximized that role.

Both Bledsoe and Knight battled injuries throughout last season, allowing shooting guard rookie Devin Booker to see some valuable starts and playing time.  Now with the Suns adding Ulis, there is a belief that the Suns will trade either Knight or Bledsoe.

Next: Injury Prone

Injury Prone

Last year, point guard Eric Bledsoe played in just 31 games, while Brandon Knight appeared in only 52 games.   Bledsoe suffered a torn meniscus in the December 26 game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the same type of injury which ended Jahlil Okafor’s season later soon afterwards. Prior to last season’s tear, he had surgery in the 2013-2014 season to repair cartilage in his knee when he first arrived in Phoenix. After shedding his reputation as injury-prone by appearing in 81 games in the 2014-2015 season, Bledsoe solidified that reputation once more.  With the drafting of Ulis, groundwork has been established where the Phoenix Suns comfort are now in an ideal position to consider parting ways with either of the two star point guards this off-season.

Related Story: Why Philadelphia 76ers Should Expect All Draft Picks To Play This Year

I say either of the two, because point guard Brandon Knight’s left ankle was injured in the 2014-2015 season, leading to the decision to have arthroscopic surgery in April. In the 2015-2016 season, Knight missed seven weeks and 21 games from late January to early March from a groin injury suffered on Dec. 31 in Oklahoma City.

While both players are young enough to shrug off nagging injuries and piece together a string of seasons, neither has demonstrated the ability to do so going forward.

Next: The Price of Moving On

The Price of Moving On

While neither player is expected to suffer long term effects from those injuries, both have endued enough to push the Suns to moving on from at least one.  But at what cost?    Dealing with highly productive players prone to injury can set the price tag all over the board- relative to the team trading for or away from the player.  Surprisingly, the Phoenix Suns did not move either before the draft – in agreement- as now many teams either have a point guard solution in hand or will expect to sign a point guard in the upcoming free agency.

The risks of trading for either player at this point are very very real.   Brandon Knight is very good offensively, but he’s a defensive liability. This was pointed out in a recent analysis on the Suns’ point guard situation.

As complicated as the issue was under Booker, it gets even more strained under Booker and Ulis.  Like it or not, the salary spent on Bledsoe and Knight places them into the presumptive starting roles for the Phoenix Suns.  Bench them, and it won’t take long for frustration to erode the locker room as cheaper rookies and second year players earn the starts and quality minutes, while the big cash is spent on the bench.

That won’t fly for long.

Next: Phoenix Suns Can Jumpstart Rebuild Now

Phoenis Suns Can Jumpstart Rebuild now

What the Phoenix Suns expect in compensation to move either player is truly a gauge of their commitment for doing so.   Right now, they are in an ideal position to discuss a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.  With a back court solidified with Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker, and with a front court reinforced with the likes of Dragan Bender and Marquisse Chriss, the Suns are in position to move forward.

They just need a center.  In the 2015-2016 season, the Phoenix Suns were 20th in the league at points in the paint per www.teamrankings.com.

Ideally, that center is Jahlil Okafor.  With Okafor playing back to the post, the Suns could use Chriss as the stretch four, and Bender in a small forward role.  At the moment, league sources suggest that the easier of the two guards to pry away from the Suns would be Eric Bledsoe.

In pre-draft rumor discussions, the consensus at www.inquisitr.com suggested it would take both Eric Bledsoe and draft considerations to obtain Okafor.  Now that the Phoenix Suns have landed Chriss, Bender, and Ulis in the 2016 draft, the value of placing Okafor onto the basketball court alongside the other new faces would be a huge value going forward.

In short, the Suns could truly jump start their own rebuild by engaging the post offense of Okafor in their lineup of young talented stars.

Analyzing this potential trade will not work with conventional assessment.  Okafor did not play even one full season, and neither Bledsoe nor Knight can be counted on to play a full healthy season at this point. So the alternative must be used, what value can Jahlil Okafor bring with scoring 20 plus points in the paint to a Phoenix Suns loading up with Bender, Chriss, Ulis, Booker and Knight?

Next: Grading Sixer Sense Mock 2016 NBA Draft Board

That’s a formidable line-up for the Suns, and one which Phoenix should be willing to pay a premium price to realize.  Greatness sometimes requires high risk.  If the Phoenix Suns toss a 2017 first round pick and Eric Bledsoe at the Philadelphia 76ers, both teams walk away much improved.  It’s a long off-season.  Let’s see if the rumors play out.