Updated Trade Packages and Landing Spots for Suns Guard Eric Bledsoe
Eric Bledsoe is effectively done as a member of the Phoenix Suns, but his next destination is unusually hard to peg.
A veteran point guard in a market short on demand, Bledsoe, the asset, is in a tough spot. Suitors must need short-term help at fair market prices (Bledsoe is due $14.5 million this year and $15 million in 2018-19), but they must also be comfortable with the possibility of losing him for nothing after next season.
And anyone not willing to part with young players and/or picks, which the rebuilding Suns must be targeting, need not apply.
What does that leave? The short answer is not much.
There are a handful of options that make mutual sense, and we did what we can to exclude landing spots with robust cosmetology scenes. Hair salons are a sore spot for Bledsoe, we've learned.
Denver Nuggets
1 of 5
Nuggets Get: Eric Bledsoe
Suns Get: Emmanuel Mudiay and Kenneth Faried
Elevator Pitch: Let Us Have Your Mistake!
Why the Nuggets Say Yes:
Have you looked at their point guards this season? Emmanuel Mudiay can't shoot or defend, and he's playing behind a guy, Jamal Murray, whose offensive effectiveness remains entirely theoretical. After a rookie year spent tantalizing with slick ball-handling and fluid shot-creation (but very, very few made buckets), Murray is at it again as a sophomore. He's shooting 18.2 percent from deep through his first seven games.
Dumping Jameer Nelson for Richard Jefferson looks like a mistake—one the Nugs could mitigate by adding Bledsoe via trade. Maybe Bledsoe's not the ideal floor-stretcher you'd want around Nikola Jokic, but he can still push in transition, cut and draw fouls. That last skill would really help a team that's getting to the line at a rate well below the league average.
And if this finally ends Denver's union with Kenneth Faried, who's been the subject of trade chatter from the moment he signed his last contract, all the better.
Why the Suns Say Yes:
Mudiay is a flier at this point. Having shown little to justify his lottery pedigree, the third-year guard is still only 21 years old. Remember, too, that he played a whopping 12 games in China in lieu of college ball and may simply need a change of scenery to kick-start his development.
Mudiay, raw as he is, at least fits the Suns' rebuilding timeline and could grow with their core.
Faried helps make the money work (he's on the hook for $12.9 million this year and $13.8 in 2018-19), and his high-energy play might coax more intensity out of a promising group of young forwards in Phoenix. Maybe the Suns could even flip him for a larger expiring deal and a second-rounder, thus clearing more cap space for the summer and adding an asset to their war chest.
Cleveland Cavaliers
2 of 5
Cavaliers Get: Eric Bledsoe
Suns Get: Ante Zizic, Cedi Osman, Iman Shumpert and Cleveland's 2021 first-round pick (top-15 protected)
Elevator Pitch: LeBron would be cool with it.
Why the Cavaliers Say Yes:
Maybe you're under the mistaken impression that Cleveland is deep at point guard and wouldn't need Bledsoe. LeBron James started at the 1 last week because Derrick Rose was down with an ankle injury and Isaiah Thomas is out until who knows when. This is a bare point guard cupboard, despite the recognizable names.
The Cavs could use a defensive-minded point man capable of guarding both backcourt spots.
Even if you flash forward to June and Cleveland's whole backcourt is healthy, there will still be a need for some defensive grit, strength and athleticism at the position. Bledsoe brings more of that than anyone on the roster.
Bledsoe's agent, Rich Paul, also reps James as part of Klutch Sports Group. That's not a reason for the Cavs to do this deal, but it opens up the possibility of James weighing in on it—probably in favor of pulling the trigger.
Why the Suns Say Yes:
They'll haggle, hoping to get the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round pick, but the Cavs are probably saving that for an even bigger acquisition—if they're planning to deal it at all. Maybe the Suns would rather push for Channing Frye and his expiring deal instead of taking on the nearly two years remaining on Shumpert's pact. If that's what gets it done, fine. Cleveland isn't backing out because of that request, and maybe Phoenix could flip Frye and his trusty jumper to a contender more easily down the line.
Zizic, Osman and Shumpert don't help much in the short term, but the Suns aren't long on leverage. A first-rounder of any kind should be Phoenix's goal. If Zizic or Osman pan out, great. But a rebuild this thorough needs draft assets however they can be acquired.
A 2021 pick puts the return on this deal well into the future, but that's the earliest first-rounder Cleveland can move (not including Brooklyn's pick), and by then, the Cavs might not be any good. That ups the value for the Suns.
Indiana Pacers
3 of 5
Pacers Get: Eric Bledsoe
Suns Get: Thaddeus Young and a 2019 protected first-round pick
Elevator Pitch: Let the Pacers Run!
Why the Pacers Say Yes:
This wouldn't have made sense just a couple of weeks ago when we thought the Pacers were ticketed for a season of boring ball and maybe 28 wins. But now that they're playing fast, unleashing Victor Oladipo and getting something from Domantas Sabonis as an interior offensive presence, the calculus has to change.
Darren Collison's speed fits well with the way Indy is trying to play, but he's not Bledsoe, a guard who marries Collison's zip with bruising strength and better foul-drawing prowess. Pairing Bledsoe and Oladipo as a 1-2 combination would allow for more switching on defense, which every team wants.
Indiana is historically tank-averse, so we shouldn't expect it to balk at the money left on Bledsoe's deal, which is roughly equal to Young's anyway. Bledsoe can help the Pacers push for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference's lower tier, and that's always been a preferable outcome for Indiana when weighed against a full rebuild.
If there's a hangup, it's the pick. The Pacers are uncommonly good at getting value in the late lottery or mid-first round. Myles Turner was a No. 11 pick, Paul George was a No. 10, and if you want to go way back, Danny Granger was No. 17 in 2005. A 2019 first at least lets Indiana have some cushion if it falls off this year.
Why the Suns Say Yes:
The pick, the pick, the pick. Did I mention the pick?
Perhaps Phoenix will hold out for a 2018 first-rounder, which would be fine as long as the Pacers could put some additional protections on it. If the Suns wanted to get really bold, they could request a straight pick swap for 2019, perhaps banking on their own rebuild outpacing Indy's by that time.
Either way, we've said it before: This is about assets for Phoenix. Young is strictly salary filler.
If failing to get a young player (not a player named Young) is a deal-breaker for the Suns, they could pressure the Pacers for rookie TJ Leaf or even Glenn Robinson III.
Los Angeles Clippers
4 of 5
Clippers Get: Eric Bledsoe
Suns Get: Sam Dekker, Austin Rivers and a 2021 protected first-round pick
Elevator Pitch: Thanksgiving Will Be Awkward
Why the Clippers Say Yes:
Um, because DeAndre Jordan wants them to?
If that's not enough, there's the homecoming angle for Bledsoe, who started his career with the Clips. Beyond that, the on-court benefit is obvious, as he and Patrick Beverley could get downright nasty against opposing backcourts on defense.
The Clippers would lose two rotation players in this deal, one of whom calls the head coach "Dad," so it's fair to say there'll be some reservations on L.A.'s part. But it's not hard to see Wesley Johnson ably handling whatever minutes Dekker would leave, and even Doc would have to acknowledge his son isn't nearly the player Bledsoe is.
Why the Suns Say Yes:
This might be the best combination of young players and a pick we've come across so far.
Dekker barely played as a rookie because of injury and showed flashes of rotation-worthy game in his second season. He'd join a crowded frontcourt in Phoenix, but he's more game-ready than Marquese Chriss or Dragan Bender. At this stage of a rebuild, it's basically impossible to have too many prospects—because most of them aren't going to wind up being keepers.
Rivers can do a little bit at both backcourt positions, and he'd profile as a fine third guard with more defensive oomph than anyone playing the 1 or 2 in Phoenix.
Blake Griffin will be finishing up his age-32 season (and making $36.6 million) when the 2021 pick comes due. There's a good chance the Clippers are struggling and cap-strapped by then, which means the Suns could really make out, depending on the pick protections they can negotiate.
Milwaukee Bucks
5 of 5
Bucks Get: Eric Bledsoe
Suns Get: Malcolm Brogdon, John Henson
Elevator Pitch: "A million feet of wingspan isn't cool. You know what's cool?"
Why the Bucks Say Yes:
If the Bucks decide to juice up their ridiculous collection of rangy defenders, they could do a lot worse than Bledsoe. Yes, it's true Bledsoe's reach isn't quite as expansive as Malcolm Brogdon's, who posted a 6'10½" wingspan at the draft combine, three inches longer than Bledsoe's, per Draft Express. But Bledsoe is in a separate class of athlete. He made his initial mark in the NBA as a fearsome, steal-hungry on-ball bulldog.
The Bucks are obsessed with trapping and creating chaos around the ball on defense. If Bledsoe has any of his old tenacity left at age 27, he'd be an ideal fit.
Certainly, Brogdon's rookie-scale contract makes him a valuable asset. It's hard to find quality starters you can pay $1.3 million per season...and keep under team control through 2020 without spending more than $1.9 million at the contract's peak value.
But if the Bucks want to sell high on their reigning Rookie of the Year, now's the time. Whatever you think of Brogdon, he's not going to match Bledsoe's productivity.
This is a major risk, and honestly, Milwaukee might want to think about foisting Jabari Parker on the Suns instead. Parker's health history makes his future uncertain, and there's a good chance it'll still cost the Bucks a mint to keep him on his next contract. Better, perhaps, to let the Suns deal with Parker's mixture of great upside and greater risk.
(Plus, with Giannis Antetokounmpo profiling as a power forward and the Bucks prioritizing defense, it's not clear investing big in Parker makes sense.)
Why the Suns Say Yes:
Brogdon might be exactly the kind of calming influence the young Suns need. He's still technically peers with Chriss, Bender, Josh Jackson, Devin Booker and TJ Warren, but Brogdon's heady game and playoff experience would make him the de facto leader of that group.
He's a plug-and-play certainty. Install him at the point, and you've got a solid standstill shooter who guards both backcourt spots and doesn't succumb to the typical mistakes you'd expect from a second-year talent. Stability like that is important in a rebuild.
As is all that stuff we already mentioned about his affordability.
Henson is a throw-in, but if the Suns move on from Tyson Chandler, he could log minutes at center until one of the kids steps in to take over.
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference or NBA.com unless otherwise specified. Salary data via Basketball Insiders.
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