Category: Phoenix Suns Blog

It took almost the entire NBA offseason to hammer out, but the Phoenix Suns and talented young guard Eric Bledsoe will stay together.

The Suns and Bledsoe have agreed to a five-year contract, the team announced today.

“I learned long ago that it doesn’t matter how stormy the sea is as long as the ship comes in and today we are thrilled that the ship has come in and Eric will remain a Sun for a long time,” said President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “He will be an integral part not only of our basketball team, but our Phoenix community.”

“We are thrilled Eric Bledsoe will be in a Phoenix Suns uniform for years to come,” said General Manager Ryan McDonough. “Eric is one the most exciting and dynamic two-way players in the league. He played very well for us on both ends of the floor last season and we feel he is well on his way to establishing himself as one of the elite players in the NBA.”

“Lon, Ryan and the Suns have shown confidence in me, and I am looking to take that responsibility and help our team get better from last year and position ourselves to win an NBA championship,” said Bledsoe. “It’s why I came back to Phoenix. All summer, I knew that I really would be most comfortable coming back to Phoenix because of the great fans, my Suns teammates and our coaches. I am very happy it was able to work out this way.”

Bledsoe appeared in 43 games (40 starts) for the Suns in 2013-14, averaging career-highs of 17.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 32.9 minutes while also shooting a career-best 47.7 percent from the field. In his first season with the Suns, and fourth in the NBA, Bledsoe became just the sixth player in Suns history to average at least 17.0 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals, and the first since Charles Barkley in his NBA MVP season of 1992-93.

Bledsoe registered his first two games with at least 30 points this past season, twice setting his career-high in the final month of the season, scoring 30 points at Portland on April 4, and again at San Antonio on April 11. In that contest against the Spurs, Bledsoe also had 11 rebounds and nine assists to become the first Sun since 1999 to have a game with at least 30 points, ten rebounds and nine assists. Bledsoe recorded a career-high 14 assists in addition to scoring 26 points at Oklahoma City on Nov. 3, in just his third game with the Suns.

Acquired by the Suns from the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team trade on July 10, 2013, Bledsoe excelled in his first season as a full-time starter, helping the Suns to a 28-15 (.651) record in the 43 games in which he played. Bledsoe notched 17 games with 20-plus points in 2013-14 after entering the season with four such games in his first three seasons combined.

Prior to joining the Suns, Bledsoe played the first three seasons of his professional career with the Clippers. Bledsoe, a native of Birmingham, Ala., played one season at the University of Kentucky before entering the 2010 NBA Draft where he was selected in the first round with the 18th overall pick.

The Suns’ roster stands at 14.

Phoenix Suns’ forward P.J. Tucker has been suspended three games without pay for pleading guilty to driving while under the extreme influence of intoxicating liquor, in violation of the law of the State of Arizona, the NBA announced today.

Tucker’s suspension will begin with the first game of the 2014-15 NBA regular season.

The Phoenix Suns have signed 2014 first-round draft picks T.J. Warren (14th overall selection) and Tyler Ennis (18th overall), the team announced today.

All first-round NBA draft picks are guaranteed to receive a contract, assuming they wish to play in the league right away. Therefore, these signings are standard and were expected.

Both Warren and Ennis made their Suns’ debuts as members of Phoenix’s entry at NBA Summer League 2014 in Las Vegas. Warren was named to the All-NBA Summer League Second Team after averaging a team-high 17.8 points on 54.4 percent shooting, while Ennis posted team-highs of 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals in addition to 4.2 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Warren, a 6-foot-8 forward from Durham, N.C., earned Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year honors this past season to complete a two-year career at North Carolina State. In his sophomore season, Warren ranked third in the nation with 24.9 points per game while also averaging 7.1 rebounds and shooting an ACC-best 52.5 percent from the field. Named a Second Team AP All-American, Warren also excelled on the defensive end, leading the ACC in steals in conference games.

One of the best scorers in this year’s draft, Warren is a creative shot-maker who can get points in a variety of ways. Warren set a single-season North Carolina State record with 871 points this past season, including a career-high 42 points against Boston College. Warren became just the third player in ACC history to lead the conference in scoring and field goal percentage in the same season, in addition to posting back-to-back games with 40-plus points to join Hall of Famer David Thompson as the only two players to do so in Wolfpack history.

A 6-foot-3, 19-year-old from Brampton, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, Ennis is considered to be one of the best pure point guards in recent drafts. Ennis played one season at Syracuse, earning All-ACC Second Team honors after averaging 12.9 points and 5.5 assists in 2013-14. Ennis has also shined in international competition, leading Canada with a tournament-high 20.8 points per game at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.

One of the most clutch players in college basketball as a freshman, Ennis earned a reputation for his late-game heroics, including a buzzer-beater from near half-court in Syracuse’s win at Pittsburgh. Ennis’ poise was also on display with his superb decision-making as he ranked sixth in the nation with a 3.60 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The Phoenix Suns have waived guard Dionte Christmas, the team announced today.

In his rookie NBA season of 2013-14, Christmas averaged 2.3 points, 1.2 rebounds and 6.4 minutes in 31 games with the Suns. Christmas also played with the Suns’ entry at NBA Summer League 2014 in Las Vegas earlier this month, averaging 10.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in five games.

The Phoenix Suns have re-signed forward P.J. Tucker to a multiyear contract, the team announced today.

“We are pleased to have been able to reach an agreement with P.J. Tucker on a multiyear contract,” said President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “His new contract fulfills one of our most important goals for this summer.”

“P.J. is one of the most rugged competitors in the entire league,” said General Manager Ryan McDonough. “We love his passion and his fire. We are happy that he will remain in a Suns uniform for the foreseeable future.”

Tucker started 81 games in his second season with the Suns of 2013-14, posting career-highs of 9.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 30.7 minutes. Tied for the Suns’ team-lead with a career-best 11 double-doubles, Tucker also had career-highs with 38 games of double-digit scoring and 15 games of double-digit rebounds. Recognized for his intensity and versatility on the defensive end, Tucker won the Dan Majerle Hustle Award for the second consecutive season in 2013-14.

Against Oklahoma City on April 6 this past season, Tucker scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, making a career-high four three-pointers in the Suns’ win. Tucker also became the first Sun since 2007 to have at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and four steals in a game when he scored 16 points along with a career-high 15 rebounds and four steals in a win against Golden State on Feb. 8.

Initially signing with the Suns as a free agent on Aug. 1, 2012, Tucker has established new career-highs in virtually every statistical category in each of his first two seasons with the club, in addition to earning a reputation as one of the league’s toughest defenders.

Prior to joining the Suns, Tucker played professionally in Germany, Puerto Rico, Italy, Greece, Israel and Ukraine, after his rookie NBA season of 2006-07 with the Toronto Raptors. A standout performer at the University of Texas, Tucker played three seasons with the Longhorns, earning consensus Big 12 Player of the Year honors as a junior before entering the 2006 NBA Draft.

The Phoenix Suns have signed free agent forward Anthony Tolliver to a multiyear contract, the club announced today.

“We are very pleased to welcome Anthony to Phoenix,” said President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “He has impressed us not only with his play, but with his intelligence and high character.”

“Anthony is a great fit for our style of play,” said General Manager Ryan McDonough. “His shooting, professionalism and leadership will help us as we try to continue to build a strong foundation going forward.”

The 6-8, 240-pound Tolliver is a six-year NBA veteran who shot a career-high 41.3 percent from three-point distance with Charlotte last season. Tolliver averaged 6.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 20.3 minutes in 64 games (nine starts) in his one season with the Bobcats.

A native of Springfield, Mo., Tolliver holds career averages of 6.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 41.4 percent field goal shooting, 35.2 percent three-point shooting and 78.4 percent free throw shooting in 307 games with San Antonio, Portland, Golden State, Minnesota, Atlanta and Charlotte. Tolliver averaged a career-high 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds playing primarily with the Warriors in the 2009-10 season, including a career-high 34 points on April 7, 2010, at Minnesota.

A product of Creighton University, Tolliver went undrafted in the 2007 NBA Draft and earned his spot in the league with performances in the NBA D-League, as well as professionally in Germany and Turkey.