Phoenix Suns Draft Week: Checklist on Bledsoe, Frye and Cap Space

As the rumors begin to fly, feel free to double check your logic (and everyone else's) against this list of facts about the Suns right now.

Eric Bledsoe cannot be traded this week

Under no circumstances can the Phoenix Suns trade Eric Bledsoe this week, no matter how sweet the package you can dream up. Bledsoe is not under contract for the 2014-15 season, and only players under contract for 2014-15 can be traded at this time.

Please IGNORE any trade rumors involving Bledsoe and a draft pick.

Next Tuesday, Bledsoe will be a restricted free agent. The ONLY way the Suns can trade Bledsoe even NEXT month is to a team he wants to sign with, and only if the Suns want to trade him (they can otherwise match any offer). Bledsoe can only be traded in two ways:

• As part of a sign-and-trade with a team of BLEDSOE's choosing
• After December 15 of this year, after the Suns match an offer sheet from another team or re-sign him straight out

Channing Frye cannot be traded this week

Frye has decided to let his option for 2014-15 lapse, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent next month, free to sign with any team.

Since he is not under contract for 2014-15, he cannot be traded

Neither can Emeka Okafor or P.J. Tucker or Leandro Barbosa

Once the trade deadline passed, no one with an expiring contract can be traded. That includes Okafor and Tucker as well.

The Suns have just under $5 million in cap space this week

Even with Bledsoe, Tucker, Frye and Okafor expiring, the Suns cannot use their "cap space" until at least July 1, and only if they renounce their Bird Rights to the players.

The Suns have just under $5 million to absorb player salaries in a trade.

No dead weight contracts to parlay

The problem with acquiring a big name veteran during the draft is that the Suns will have to nearly match the salaries. You can cross off obtaining Kevin Love straight up for picks. The Suns cannot absorb his salary without matching all but $5 million of it going out.

And the Suns really don't have any big tradable salaries. The only tradable salary over $3.5 million is Goran Dragic's ($7.5 million). All the others are expiring or much lower.

So if the Suns add a big name player and contract, they will have to aggregate a lot of outgoing salaries to make it work.

The Suns can add bodies though

But there's always the chance the Suns will need to eat a contract or two to complete a trade, like they did with Malcolm Lee last year to move up one spot from 30 to 29.

Currently, the team has 15 players on the active roster. During the offseason, any NBA team can expand to 20 players on the active roster, and only need to trim down in October.

So, the Suns could conceivably add players, as long as the salaries are no more than $5 million more than is going out.

Cap sheet this week only

I repeat: The players in red cannot be traded this week. The players in italics are no longer on the team, so they can't be traded either.