1. Make The Playoffs
Basketball is a team game, so technically speaking, making the playoffs should be the goal for every player on the Suns roster. This is not Bledsoe’s sole responsibility by any means. But it’s also fair to say that this goal might apply to Bledsoe more than any other player in Phoenix as he heads into his third season with the team.
Markieff Morris may be the longest tenured Sun on the roster, but he’s far from being a team leader and he’s not the team’s best player either. Eric Bledsoe, on the other hand, hasn’t been to the playoffs since playing for the Clippers in 2012-13. In order to prove he belongs in that upper tier of point guards, and that he’s the current face of the franchise, he needs to step up and lead this team to the playoffs for the first time.
Eric Bledsoe may never be a superstar, and he was never intended to be the best player on a championship-caliber team. That’s just not how it’s going to happen. But fair or not, what happens in 2015-16 will reflect on Bledsoe’s status as a great but not elite player.
If the Suns make the playoffs, Bledsoe will earn recognition as the superb two-way player that he is, a mini-LeBron that other players will want to play with. But if the Suns miss the playoffs yet again, it’ll serve as an indictment of Bledsoe’s flaws as a player and another indication of how much help the Suns still need in order to take the next step in the West.
Next: 5 Goals For Devin Booker In 2015-16