Fantasy Basketball: Buy Or Sell, Phoenix Suns Edition
By Scott Chasen
The 2015-16 NBA season is about two months away, which means fantasy basketball is also right around the corner. However, at this point it can be a little tricky to figure things out, especially with a team like the Phoenix Suns. After all, in addition to bringing in some new players, the Suns also have some younger players who will be featured in different roles than the last year.
Hopefully, this post will provide a bit of clarity on the fantasy value of each of the players. And it’s important to note this isn’t a power ranking of the players against each other, but rather against their own relative value coming into the season. So with that, let’s get started with Eric Bledsoe.
Buy: Eric Bledsoe
At his best, Eric Bledsoe is to fantasy basketball what Mike Conley Jr. is to the actual NBA: super underrated to the casual observer. Bledsoe racks up loads of points, rebounds and assists, not to mention he finished 13th in the NBA in total steals last year.
Bledsoe PG Ranks:
Points: 8th
Rebounds: 2nd
Assists: 10th
Steals: 7th
Blocks: T-1st
Minutes: 4th
Double-doubles: 8th
Triple-doubles: 4th
Last season, Bledsoe was one of just four point guards to play at least 2,800 minutes, and considering (1) he can play PG or SG in fantasy leagues and (2) point guard is an incredibly deep position in the NBA, there’s absolutely no problem holding off on grabbing a point guard (or a second point guard) right away and going for Bledsoe a round or two later.
Oh, and if your league gives points for double-doubles and triple-doubles, you’re also in luck. Bledsoe tied for eighth out of all PGs with 13 double-doubles last year, and posted a couple of triple-doubles. Only Rajon Rondo, Michael Carter-Williams and Russell Westbrook had more.
More from Suns News
- Ranking the Phoenix Suns’ 5 holiday games in 2023-24
- Zion Williamson gets compared to Phoenix Suns legend
- Suns player preview: Bol Bol can be the perfect role player
- Former Suns’ guard shows he is officially done with Phoenix
- NBA insider guarantees Suns’ rival won’t make blockbuster trade
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Bledsoe is a better option at point guard than the Westbrooks, Currys and Walls of the world, but he’s a fantastic value pick. Additionally, with fantasy basketball, you can get an incredible amount of talent on your team by drafting guys who don’t have the biggest names, and that’s what you can get in Bledsoe.
From a fantasy perspective, much of Bledsoe’s production last year was comparable to (or in some cases, better than) Kyrie Irving’s, yet Irving’s ADP (average draft position) was 16-19 between Yahoo, ESPN and CBS; Bledsoe’s ADP was right around 42.
Again, I’d definitely consider Irving the better player of the two, but if you have the 16th pick for example, there’s probably a chance you can get a comparable high-level player to Irving at one of the thinner NBA positions, especially at small forward or center, where having one of the elite players can really make a difference.
So basically, if a dynamite point guard falls to you, you should absolutely draft him. However, there’s no reason to reach for any point guard in those first two or so rounds knowing you can probably get a guy like Bledsoe in the fourth.
Next: Buy: T.J. Warren