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Eric Bledsoe ranked fourth-best NBA free agent

Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe will become a restricted free agent on July 1. According to one NBA expert, he's the fourth-best "available" talent in the league this summer.

Christian Petersen

SB Nation's Tom Ziller put together a ranking of 75 NBA players who will or could be either restricted or unrestricted free agents this summer. Bledsoe's position so high on this list says a lot about his star potential and the future of a Suns team who will almost certainly keep the talented young player in Phoenix.

Eric Bledsoe is going to get paid a lot of money. Luckily for the Suns, he's a restricted free agent, which means that Phoenix can match any signed contract offer. The worst that can happen for the Suns? A front-loaded max. Even that's not too bad for the team, all told, though it could hurt their attempts to improve specifically for the 2015 campaign. GM Ryan McDonough is doing the whole "we're keeping him, no doubt about it" signal to scare off other teams, and it's worth noting that Bledsoe is a player he brought to the team. He's likely not bluffing.

It's pretty clear that it will cost the Suns a max deal to keep him, so we could very well see a quiet agreement reached on July 1. Is Bledsoe worth that? Probably, but that's what we'll find out over the next five years.

Check out the rest of the rankings here.


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