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Since I love to use my own peculiar train of thought to choose my podcast cover art, I chose to go with Archie Goodwin over the sexier additions of Alex Len and Eric Bledsoe. The obvious reason is that Goodwin was the 29th pick in the draft. Coincidence? 100%.
We are joined by Amin Elhassan, who took the time to record at 10:00 PM local time. Buckets of gratitude to Amin for making himself available on such short notice.
Amin is a NBA analyst for ESPN insider. Check out his abundant talent at http://search.espn.go.
Since Kris was trying to plug me during the recording... you can also follow me on twitter @jim_coughenour. I promise not to tweet about my breakfast or new pair of kicks.
I was going to give a quick scouting report on Eric Bledsoe to complement the podcast, but I figured nobody wanted to read my drivel and I wasn't given the blessing to copy and paste someone else's astute analysis. Don't worry. There will be an in depth report up sooner rather than later.
Instead here are a couple of my quick takeaways on the trade.
I have been on the record multiple times avowing that I would support any trade of our veterans that returned young talented prospects and/or draft picks. This satisfies that criteria, so I support it.
Bledsoe fits the mold of offensively limited/defense-oriented/athletic guards that McMiracle seems to be enamored with.
Marcin Gortat (who recently received the dreaded vote of confidence) and Luis Scola should be moved as well. The Suns were able to use cap room to facilitate the Dudley/Bledsoe deal, so it would be nice to see them shed some salary with future moves. Room under the cap is desirable and beneficial, as evinced by the deal yesterday.
The team appears to be well on its way to being more exciting this fall. Watching young developing prospects get their teeth kicked in is much more entertaining than watching it happen to older veterans, which is sort of pathetic. I'm also expecting a slightly more frantic pace.
I have no problem with stockpiling assets at one position. Just get talent. It can always be flipped for other positions of need down the road.
The trade has negligible downside. Worst case is that the Suns decide not to keep Caron Butler (very likely) and Bledsoe, which would allow them to cut their losses and give them an extra $10.5 million in cap space next summer. The outcome will probably be better than this.
The Suns already have at least two new young players with more potential than any developing player on the roster last year.
McDonough is putting his his stamp on this team, but has done so without taking on any risky/bad contracts like Michael Beasley.
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Welcome to new Suns Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler.
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Best wishes to departing Jared Dudley. Thanks for everything you've given to the team and its fans Dudz!
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