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Suns GM Blames ‘Bad Advice’ For Bledsoe’s Actions

October 25th 2017 at 12:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Suns GM Ryan McDonough believes Eric Bledsoe is receiving “bad advice” in his desire to get out of Phoenix, relays Chris Haynes of ESPN.

The remarks were made during an interview Tuesday with Arizona Sports 98.7 and are apparently a swipe at Bledsoe’s agent, Rich Paul, who represents several other high-profile clients, including LeBron James. Bledsoe reportedly had hoped to join James in Cleveland as part of a deal for Kyrie Irving and was “depressed” when that trade fell through.

“I think Eric’s a good person,” McDonough said. “I think he’s unfortunately gotten some bad advice and is listening to the wrong people. I think generally, any time you sign a contract, it doesn’t only work one way. It works both ways, and for a guy with years on his contract to say or intimate he didn’t want to be here anymore, I didn’t find that to be appropriate, and I think if he says he wants to be a leader, that’s the opposite of what a leader does and the opposite of what leadership is.”

Bledsoe, 27, is currently in limbo after being sent home prior to Monday’s game. It seems unlikely that he will ever play for Phoenix again, but the team hasn’t made much progress in trade talks over the past 48 hours, with one source suggesting that the asking price is way too high.

Bledsoe made news Sunday with a tweet that stated, “I Dont wanna be here,” and although he insisted it wasn’t related to the team, there have been other indications he wants out of Phoenix. Haynes notes that Bledsoe met with McDonough and owner Robert Sarver during the preseason, questioning several personnel moves and free agency failures during his four years with the franchise. Sources say Bledsoe was told that the team had underperformed since he became the starting point guard.

McDonough said in the interview that he has received some “pretty intriguing offers,” but feels no urgency to complete a deal because Bledsoe isn’t playing. The Knicks, Nuggets and Bucks are among the teams that have reportedly reached out to Phoenix.

“If you can imagine, my phone was ringing a lot yesterday,” McDonough said. “The ideal time to get a deal done is whenever the best offer presents itself. So we’d be fine doing it sooner rather than later. At the same time, he’s under contract for this year plus next year. We sent him away from the team to eliminate that distraction. So we’re willing to do a deal, we’re open to do a deal whenever the best offer presents itself.”

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