Eric Bledsoe emerged as a star this season with the Phoenix Suns until his knee surgery in January. Bledsoe averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.

Bledsoe will be a restricted free agent and Lon Babby plans to match any potential offer in the open market.

"I think our answer to that is yes, that we know enough about Eric as a player," Babby said. "Even more importantly, we've lived with him now for almost a year as a person. We like everything about him. Like him as a teammate, like him as a representative of our franchise and everything that he stands for.

"He's got a tremendous future."

Babby hopes the Suns can sign Bledsoe outright instead of going through the process of matching.

"If you ask me today, I would say absolutely we are going to match any offer, but I hope it doesn't come to that. I hope Eric has developed enough of a feeling, and my instincts are that he likes it here."