The Suns and Nuggets have discussed a deal that would send Emmanuel Mudiay along with other pieces to Phoenix in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). It’s unclear if the talks are ongoing or whether the idea of swapping point guards was merely discussed by the two franchises.
It seems clear that the Suns will at some point find a trade partner for their disgruntled point guard. Over the weekend, Bledsoe expressed his desire to no longer be part of the team via social media, tweeting “I don’t want to be here” right before the Suns fired coach Earl Watson. The point guard apparently tried to walk his comments back by telling GM Ryan McDonough that he meant his physical location at the time. The executive wasn’t amused.
“He said he was at a hair salon… I didn’t believe that to be true. He won’t be with us going forward, “ the GM said via ABC15 Sports out of Arizona (Twitter link).
Sam Amico of Amico Hoops hears confirms that Bledsoe is being shopped around the league with a rival executive telling the scribe that “[Bledsoe] will not play another game for [Phoenix].”
Bledsoe appears to be unhappy with the franchise’s rebuilding phase and Denver may be a good fit for him should the team deal him. The Nuggets made several offseason moves with an eye on competing this season, though point guard remains a problem area for the team. Denver recently waived Jameer Nelson—their staring point guard for parts of last season—and inserted Jamal Murray into the first unit. In two games this season, the 2016 No. 7 overall pick has been inconsistent, recording four turnovers while accounting for four assists in 40 minutes of action.
Several other teams have also expressed interest in Bledsoe. In addition to the Nuggets, the Knicks, Bucks, Clippers, and Blazers have been linked to the point guard.
Denver seemed very eager to dump Nelson for Jefferson, which from a positional fit I don’t think made much sense. Now they’re already revisiting the drawing board for a point guard upgrade? Hmmm…
They needed another small forward because they only have Wilson Chandler. Nelson wasnt gonna factor into the point guard mix too much with Jamal Murray and Mudiay there. Upgrading from mudiay to Bledsoe could be good though as he would add a more consitent scoring threat and pick and roll ball handler to their roster. It depends on what else they have to give up.
Jamal Murray is Denver’s point guard. Mudiay is backup. Denver has a lot of bigs who would make salaries match! Like the Celtics and Kyrie Irving, no one can offer what Denver can!