Good morning, Eric Bledsoe got all of the money

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

BLED$$$OE: So in the Great Staring Contest between the Suns and Eric Bledsoe, guess who blinked? Phoenix! The team forked over $70 million over five years -- $14 million per season -- after insisting they’d go no higher than $48 million over four years. The deal is still about $15 million total under the full max Bledsoe could have gotten from the Suns, so I guess it’s a draw?

Bright Side Of The Suns (which had been somewhat critical of Bledsoe’s demands) reacts.

IN DEFENSE OF THE HARDENS: I wrote about building around one-dimensional stars instead of well-rounded players.

WELPVILLE REVISITED: The Warriors released drawings that made their proposed new arena look like a toilet. So of course the team has responded by calling it a “work in progress,” which, of course it is. The Warriors ignored that basic tenet of life as drawn upon by Taylor Swift: “Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate.”

BACK TO 2003: Rip Hamilton recalls his reaction when the Pistons drafted Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony.

BACK IN BUSINESS: Neat piece by CBS Sports’ James Herbert on Lionel Hollins.

IN ODD TIMING NEWS: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, considered a rising front office star, has left the Kings.

VIVA MEXICO: The great Bill Cartwright is the new coach of the Mexican national team.

CHUCKLES GALORE: How Grizzly Bear Blues writers immediately reacted to the news that Memphis had signed Michael Beasley.

ON RONDO: NBA.com’s superfriends talk about Rajon Rondo’s future in Boston.

OH NO: The Thunder’s D-League affiliate moved from Tulsa to Oklahoma City and rebranded as the Blue, and the logo is uhhhh about what you’d expect for a team named the Oklahoma City Blue. (Free the RimRockers!)

REMEMBER THE TIME: The Lakers signed Ronnie Price to a camp deal. This would normally not be worthing mentioning -- lots of guys are getting camp deals -- but this allows us to remember the time Ronnie Price jammed on new teammate Carlos Boozer so hard we all remembered who Ronnie Price is. The night before Thanksgiving in 2006. That was my first season with TiVo. I wore out the 30-second replay button that night. Good God Almighty.

FREE LAWRENCE: No longer writing daily reports for Jason Kidd, Lawrence Frank is apparently one of Doc Rivers’ new assistants with the Clippers. Things worked out okay after all.

Happy Thursday. See you next time.