Wednesday Windmill: Does Eric Bledsoe deserve a max contract?

                                              (credit: clipperblog.com) 

With Greg Monroe signing a one year contract with the Pistons to make himself an unrestricted free agent next summer, all eyes are now on Eric Bledsoe, the Suns' restricted free agent point guard who is calling for a max-deal. The opinions about Bledsoe's value are mixed. Some believe he is worth a max deal and others do not. LeBron James is one of the opinion that Bledsoe does deserve a max contract, saying:

"Great work today lil bro @ebled2 (Bledsoe's Instagram account)!! Future All-Star in this league in no time. PHX break bread. #Klutch #Work #GymRats #StriveForGreatness."

Obviously, having LeBron James support your call for a max contract gives you plenty of leverage, but that doesn't mean that you actually deserve one. Upon looking at his numbers, I don't think Bledsoe is deserving of a max contract right now, especially from the Suns who already have plenty of depth at point guard with Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas.

Last season, Bledsoe averaged 17.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 3.3 turnovers per game. At just 24 years of age, those are very impressive numbers, but nothing worth giving max money to. Especially since this is his first season producing at that level (the previous year he averaged 8.5 points and 3.1 assists per game in 20.4 minutes of playing time with the Clippers).

I personally think the only players deserving of max contracts are guys who have shown that they are capable of leading a team deep into the playoffs. These kinds of players include guys like Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Tony Parker, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.  Bledsoe may one day join the ranks of players like that, but he isn't there yet. Until he shows that he is one of those kind of players, his call for a max-contract will come off as unwarranted and selfish.

What's worse for him is that he has turned down a 4 year, $48M offer from the Suns, which already is a very good contract for a player of his stature. By turning that down, Bledsoe really does come off as a selfish player who cares only about himself and not his team. I understand that Bledsoe wants to be paid what he is worth, but his demands for a max-contract far exceed what he is actually worth at this time.

The Suns' 4 year, $48M offer is a deal he should have taken because it values him appropriately. He is a talented enough player to have faith in as a potential building block for a contender, but he hasn't done enough to indicate that he can be the centerpiece of a franchise.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord