What a Sign-and-Trade for Eric Bledsoe Would Have to Look Like

The differences between Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns are rapidly becoming irreconcilable, and it's no longer crazy to ask if a divorce is the best thing for both parties.

The mechanics of pulling off such a separation, though, are only getting more complicated.

In fact, even with the latest intriguing development in the ongoing saga, we're still left with more questions than answers.

Per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com:

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With just days before the start of training camp, the Minnesota Timberwolves are making a final push to acquire restricted free-agent guard Eric Bledsoe in a sign-and-trade with the Phoenix Suns, sources told ESPN.com. 

The Wolves are offering Bledsoe the four-year, $63 million maximum-level contract that he has been seeking, sources said.

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OK, great. We have what appears to be a deal.

But the Timberwolves don't have the cap room to fit Bledsoe on a max deal, and we don't know who they'd theoretically send back to Phoenix to make the money work. Are the Suns getting Ricky Rubio? Perhaps Nikola Pekovic?

Could the Wolves somehow foist Kevin Martin on Phoenix?

The problem here is that Bledsoe's situation is so complicated, we can't really ascertain his value to another team—or the Suns, for that matter.

Thanks to restricted free agency, Phoenix can match any offer Bledsoe gets from another team. That's likely why no suitors made such an offer over the summer. Now, most teams are too capped out to sign Bledsoe to a max offer sheet, which means a sign-and-trade swap is the only viable way to get a deal done.

From the Suns' perspective, that might beat the alternative of dealing with a disgruntled Bledsoe (who turned down a four-year, $48 million offer from Phoenix) for another season and then losing him for nothing.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Then again, Phoenix might prefer to do that instead of taking back a costly asset just to make the money work in a sign-and-trade.

Tricky stuff, huh?

There are plenty of other options beyond the Timberwolves out there as well.

Perhaps the Suns would rather try to swing a similar sign-and-trade deal for Rajon Rondo. The Boston Celtics are in nearly as shaky of a position with their own point guard, and Rondo doesn't fit into a rebuilding process that is still at least two or three years away from completion.

If Boston were willing to max out Bledsoe, the money would work out nicely, as Rondo is due to make just under $13 million in the final year of his deal.

Of course, if the Suns really wanted Rondo, they could simply wait until next summer to sign him outright. That's a play most Bledsoe suitors could make as well.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

What's more, we don't even know if a point guard is what the Suns would want in return for Bledsoe. We can take them at their word that three point guards are part of their strategy because they prefer to play two at once (hence the Isaiah Thomas signing over the summer).

Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek had this to say, per Bryan Gibberman of ArizonaSports.com: 

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That's what our vision is. You hear the three-headed monster about big guys all the time, but maybe we got the three-headed monster in the guards. There is going to be two of those guys on the court at all times. When it happens, teams are going to have to plan for that and really focus.

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Or, we can view the Thomas signing as evidence that Phoenix planned to deal Bledsoe all along.

So deepens the complexity of the Suns' situation.

If Phoenix can't get anything done before Oct. 1, Bledsoe can simply take the $3.73 million qualifying offer, play out the season and sign wherever he wants in 2015. Teams around the league know that, and the resulting game of chicken is the reason we still haven't seen any real movement on the Bledsoe trade front.

In an interesting wrinkle, the Atlanta Hawks have almost $13 million in cap room, according to ShamSports.com. Would they view Bledsoe, at a max or near-max deal, as a big enough upgrade to send Jeff Teague, some salary filler and a pick back to the Suns?

Could they move enough money to sign him to a max offer sheet without giving anything up?

And if the Hawks could do that, would Phoenix just match after all?

Questions, questions, questions.

Even if we think we know a few things for sure—like, say, that the Suns have already placed a $12-million-per-year value on Bledsoe—we have to factor in Phoenix's bargaining position. With no reason to bid against themselves, there's really no reason for the Suns to make a last, best and final offer that reflects what they believe Bledsoe's actual value to be.

They have every incentive to let the rest of the league set the market and react accordingly. For all we know, the Suns have been willing to max out Bledsoe all along; they just weren't going to do it until somebody forced them to.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

When Bledsoe told Kyle Burger of WVTM-TV in Birmingham "I can understand the Phoenix Suns are using restricted free agency against me," he knew what he was talking about.

If reports out of Minnesota are true, it would appear at least one team definitely thinks Bledsoe is a max player. And the Wolves could do a lot worse than adding a supremely athletic combo guard to their stable of No. 1 draft picks and untested talents.

Assuming, of course, the Suns won't try to pry away guys like Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett or Zach LaVine in the bargain.

You'd expect Phoenix, a playoff contender, would rather have known commodities like Pekovic or Rubio in a sign-and-trade anyway. At the same time, we should never put asset accumulation to the point of absurdity past the Suns. They managed to hoard three first-round picks ahead of the 2014 draft, so we know they like young talent.

The truth is, we won't know what a potential sign-and-trade for Bledsoe will look like until we see one. The range of possibilities is just that vast.

In a sense, that's appropriate. All offseason, the only certainty in the Suns-Bledsoe marriage has been uncertainty.