The Eric Bledsoe Saga (part 2)

Where does Bledsoe go?  Let's start by pointing out where he does not go.  

Cavs, Bulls, Wizards, Heat, Raptors, Rockets, Mavs, Grizzlies, Thunder, Spurs, Clippers, Blazers, Warriors, Wolves have made their moves of the summer and are pretty much ready for next season by this point.  A move for Bledsoe may well be more trouble than its worth for one year of a free agent. 

Teams with no deal to make (I just don’t see how they get Bledsoe):

Pistons could offer Josh Smith straight up; nah.  Or they could offer Greg Monroe straight up (indeed, they could disregard any extensions and swap the final years of their respective deals; but what’s the point?) but that would leave each of them with the same problem and neither environment suits either player.  So that leaves some tandem of Brandon Jennings or Jonas Jerebko or Caron Butler, none of which are reasonable returns for Bledsoe.  Pistons are out. 

Magic won’t work because they have too many young cheap players, too many pebbles and not enough stones; the shift of the bodies on the roster becomes more detrimental than progressive and the Suns aren’t gonna want 5 unproven guys regardless of their upside.  Magic is out. 

Lakers are just a mess right now.  Bledsoe and Kobe would be horrible together and the Lakers have nobody that the Suns would want (as I’m assuming Julius Randle is off the table); could the Suns deal with 1yr/$9.5m of Nash on a reunion tour?  Nash as a backup to his protégé, Goran Dragic?  I’m guessing the Suns are not into spending money to re-live the past when they’re pretty good right now, even if you throw in 1yr/$3.5m of Carlos Boozer.  The Suns have to do better for Bledsoe than that.  Lakers are a desperate longshot (if Bledsoe and the Suns are a disaster this year perhaps this comes back at the deadline, but I sure hope not). 

 

Nuggets have Ty Lawson and Javale McGee, two guys I think the Suns don’t really need.  And while Danilo Galinari is more of the Suns’ ilk, do you really want to pay some guy $10.5m who hasn’t played in a year and a half?  After that the contracts chunk out into some kind of collection of Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Nate Robinson, Aaron Aflalo, JJ Hickson, Randy Foye—I’d rather have Bledsoe than any combination of those dudes.  I’d take Kenneth Faried but I reckon he’s not available—indeed!  Why hasn’t he signed an extension?  Why isn’t that national news?  The Nuggets don’t strike me as a worthwhile partner in a Bledsoe trade.

(I’m gonna say something weird about the Pacers: Paul George with one leg is worth more to me than Bledsoe or just about anybody in the league, he is my star, my anchor, my guy, I’m not trading that guy for anything short of KD or Lebron.  And I think David West (2yrs/$24m) is just as untouchable; he’s older, he’s expensive, his production doesn’t light up the box score but for his price point, his position, his status in the locker room, David West is exactly what you want at the price you’re willing pay; this may sound weird but I think West is as perfectly valued as the tippity toppity best players, I wouldn’t trade him for too many guys in the league.  Not Eric Bledsoe—and I think the world of Eric Bledsoe!)

Pacers pretty much only have Roy Hibbert (2 yrs/$30m) but the Suns would never take back that kind of payroll or add to Bledsoe to get Hibbert.  The Suns wouldn’t have much use for Hill, Scola, Mahinmi or Miles; and while I think Copeland and Stuckey could work in Phoenix, there’s not enough to make the deal work.  Pacers are out. 

Hornets would need to make a blockbuster offer, I think.  If the Hornets are willing to part with Kemba and another (MKG or Cody Zeller) then they could be in on Bledsoe.  Bledsoe and Kemba are stylistically similar; personally I think Bledsoe is better now and stands to be better going forward, if I’m the Hornets I’m willing to talk Kemba for Bledsoe.  But it might cause too much attrition to the Hornet rotation, a problem Phoenix handled perfectly but I’m not sure the Hornets could.  I guess a deal could work out but it might have to be a bigger deal than just Bledsoe, as even a Bledsoe deal would cause big changes in Charlotte perhaps they’d prefer an even bigger change to get back more than Bledsoe.  I doubt the Hornets are in, the figures don’t work out.