Suns GM Ryan McDonough told Doug Haller of AZCentral.com that Eric Bledsoe is unlikely to be traded at this year’s deadline, citing the 27-year-old’s team-friendly contract.
“We never say ‘never,’ but I think he’s one of the least likely guys on the roster to get traded,” McDonough said. “He’s under contract for a couple more years after this year. More likely, we’d try to add guys in that 27-and-under age group to play with Eric and (guard) Devin (Booker) and our young core and build that way.”
Now in the third season of a five-year, $70MM contract, Bledsoe has averaged 21.6 points with 6.2 assists through 56 games in 2016/17. Bledsoe would surely gather interest on the trade market, but McDonough appears to be in no rush to deal one of his franchise’s prized assets.
“In terms of his work ethic and his buy-in to what we’re trying to do organizationally, he’s been off the charts,” McDonough said. “He’s made Phoenix his offseason home. It means a lot to him to be a Sun. I think it’s very unlikely to see anything with Eric.”
Earlier in the month, Zach Lowe of ESPN noted the Suns would have to consider moving Bledsoe if the return included a “good wing or center, plus a high first-round pick.” Bledsoe and Devin Booker have been stellar for the 18-39 Suns; in Lowe’s column, coach Earl Watson all but guaranteed Bledsoe and Booker would each be on Phoenix’s roster at the start of 2017/18.
Pretty rare to have two “stellar guards” and still absolutely stink. Guess Portland kind of has this year at times as well. I think some analysts confuse being a decent scorer and being a good two way player, the latter of which is much more important.
O-VER-RA-TED howboudat
Phoenix needs to trade their vets (Chandler, Dudley, Barbosa, Tucker) to continue building for the future. They already have some great pieces in place (Booker, Chriss, Bender, Ulis) and could add to that by trading Knight for someone like Okafor/Noel. The future is definetly bright in the desert.
No one is trading for Knight without getting a first. He’s been awful and his contract is one of the worst in the league
I could see Knight and a pick for Noel
I say the Suns trade Eric Bledsoe, T.J. Warren, and Alex Len to the Chicago Bulls for SF/SG Jimmy Butler.