azcentral sports Wed Feb 12, 2014 10:29 PM

The Suns players and staff get a pick-me-up at every practice and when they walk through the training room.

They have been seeing rehabilitating point guard Eric Bledsoe taking shots on the court and running on a treadmill.

Friday will mark five weeks since Bledsoe’s right-knee surgery. No timetable for a recovery or return was shared, but many believed he could return not long after the All-Star break.

“He’s making good progress on his rehab,” Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby said. “He’s progressing as expected. We’re still optimistic that he’ll return some time after the All-Star break.

“He’s been working diligently with our training staff and the reports are encouraging.”

When Bledsoe has been seen on the court, he has done spot shooting with some lift off the floor.

Bledsoe has been unavailable for comment this week.

“Every day, they are doing something a little bit more,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “They just want to make sure, he’s a big part of our future, that we don’t rush him back just for the sake of getting back in the playoff race. If he comes back, that’s going to be great. If he doesn’t come back, we know we’re going to have him for multiple years so we don’t want to take that chance. So they’re going to probably be on the cautious side of when he comes back, but we still think it’ll be some time before the end of the season.”

Elder leaders

Goran Dragic and Bledsoe were named co-captains before the season started, but veterans Channing Frye and P.J. Tucker are the team’s true leaders.

Dragic leads the team with his play, as its top performer, while Bledsoe has missed 27 of 51 games and is low-key anyway. When it comes to speaking up, advising or even calling out a teammate, Frye and Tucker have gravitated to those roles as the Suns’ oldest players at 30 and 28, respectively.

“We’ve been around the block so we know,” Tucker said. “Some of these young guys can really help us. Even when they make mistakes, we’re just staying on them and talking to them until we get it right. Most of those guys are so good that they don’t mess it up twice.”

The Suns will return from All-Star break with two months of regular season left to secure a playoff spot. They will find a more scrutinized, pressure-filled environment.

“We try to tell them, ‘Look, these dudes are going to know what you ate for lunch. They’re going to know when your birthplace is. They’re going to know everything about you,” Frye said. “ ‘So it’s your job to continue to evolve as a player, to understand and trust in the system and to know that certain games you’re going to get certain things because they want you to.’ ”

Free throws

Tucker became the first Suns player to receive a flop warning from the league for when he fell while running alongside Miami’s LeBron James in the final minute of Tuesday’s first half. Under the anti-flopping policy, a second violation would draw a $5,000 fine.

— Tucker will join Dragic and Rising Stars Challenge participant Miles Plumlee in New Orleans this weekend. Tucker took over for Jared Dudley as the team’s player union representative. He still is trying to go to his Texas Longhorns’ Saturday home game.

— James has the two highest-scoring individual games against the Suns this season, 35 and 37 points.

— The Suns had season-best crowds Saturday and Tuesday and have drawn more than 16,000 fans in eight consecutive home games. They had not had a home crowd of more than 16,000 since opening night.

— Tuesday’s game was Fox Sports Arizona’s highest-rated Suns telecast of the season with a rating of 3.5 (63,091 Phoenix households).

— Dragic initially did not like the padded sleeve that he began wearing for a swollen left elbow but his strong play since the sleeve’s Jan. 30 debut means it is part of his uniform.

“I think that sleeve has helped out so probably I’m going to wear this sleeve until the end of the season,” he said.

63rd NBA All-Star Game

When: Sunday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m.

Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans

TV: TNT

Up next for Suns

Suns at Nuggets

When: Feb. 18, 7 p.m.

Where: Pepsi Center, Denver.

TV/radio: FSAZ/KTAR-AM (620), KPKX-FM (98.7).