Eric Bledsoe

Eric Bledsoe Leftovers: Quotes, Reactions, More

November 8th, 2017 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Eric Bledsoe opened up about the trade that sent him to Milwaukee, expressing excitement about playing for a future Hall-of-Famer in Jason Kidd, and alongside a current superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Bledsoe also admitted that the Suns sitting him at the end of last season played a part in souring him on his situation in Phoenix, since he felt he was “100% healthy.” Still, he says he has no hard feeling about how things played out.

“I felt like with where the team was headed, it was time for me to move on,” Bledsoe said of the Suns. “They’ve got an amazing, young, talented team, and I feel like it was time for me to find a better situation for my career. It had nothing to do with anything the Suns had going on. I made the decision that this was best for me.”

With Bledsoe poised to make his debut for the Bucks later this week, let’s round up a few more grades, reactions, and leftover notes on Tuesday’s trade:

Malcolm Brogdon, who may see his role altered as a result of Bledsoe’s arrival, tells Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders that losing Monroe “is definitely a negative for us.” However, he likes Bledsoe’s game too. “Having another guard that can really create his own shot, get downhill and make plays—I think that will definitely help us,” Brogdon said.
While Bledsoe should fit the mold of the Bucks‘ “long-armed and athletic” roster, he likely won’t do much to solve the club’s spacing issues, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post in his assessment of the deal.
The Bucks are the clear winners of the swap, in the view of Charles Curtis of USA Today, who suggests the Suns‘ return for a player of Bledsoe’s caliber was absolutely terrible.” Jeremy Woo of SI.com was less harsh on the Suns’ side of the trade, but agrees that the Bucks were the winners, while ESPN’s Kevin Pelton (Insider link) is somewhat lukewarm on the deal for both sides.
The merits of the trade for the Suns and Bucks are debatable, but Bledsoe himself is the clear winner, says Steve Aschburner of NBA.com.
The Suns haven’t made the postseason since 2010, and now they’ve further postponed the timeline on their rebuild, writes Dan Bickley of AZCentral.com, who suggests that the fans in Phoenix deserve better from the franchise.

Bucks GM Jon Horst Talks Eric Bledsoe Trade

November 8th, 2017 at 8:52am CST by Luke Adams

Bucks general manager Jon Horst went through his first summer as the head of basketball operations in Milwaukee this year, taking the reins in mid-June and guiding the team through the rest of the offseason. However, as our Offseason in Review piece on the Bucks detailed, Horst didn’t exactly make any major splashes in his first few months as GM. The team didn’t sign any outside free agents, and its only two trades involving sending or receiving cash in exchange for a draft pick.

As such, Tuesday’s acquisition of Eric Bledsoe represented Horst’s first major move as general manager of the Bucks, as he sent Greg Monroe and a pair of draft picks to Phoenix in exchange for the play-making point guard. After completing the deal, Horst sat down with Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to discuss the move. The Q&A is worth reading in full, but here are a few highlights from the Bucks’ GM:

On why the Bucks made the move for Bledsoe:

“I think this was the right deal because we were able to add someone that’s dynamic, another dynamic player that can score the ball, that can play-make for others, that has defensive toughness, athleticism and strength. And we were able to do that with effectively giving up one of the pieces of our core, as we’ve talked about publicly. Also, the Bucks DNA thing we’ve talked about is real. He is a high-character guy, highly talented, he has positional versatility, he can play on the ball and off the ball and he’s got great toughness.”

On whether Bledsoe’s messy split with the Suns gave the Bucks any pause:

“No, because with everything we do we do our due diligence. In surveying the league and getting that information, to a person everyone thinks very highly of Eric. … I think he was in a tough situation. We had a franchise that was trying to go in one direction, a player that wanted to be competitive in a different direction and those two things pulled at each other and it kind of resulted in what we all saw. That was of very little consideration for us, really all through this.”

On whether Bledsoe is a better fit than Monroe for the modern NBA:

“I think players like Greg Monroe have a role in this NBA without a doubt. So I don’t really buy into that. I do think Eric fits into a style of play that maybe we want to try to be a little bit quicker, up-tempo, more aggressive defensively and offensively and I think he can help us do that. I don’t think Greg is a dying breed or anything like that.”

On how the Bucks will handle their reduced depth at center after moving Monroe:

“The same way that we handled approaching and getting Eric Bledsoe. We’re turning over every stone, we’re going to look at every option. We increased a little bit of financial flexibility this year in the deal, which will allow us to kind of be more active in discussions and addressing things. But John (Henson) has been playing at a really high level, Thon (Maker) was very productive last year and is playing well this year. We don’t mind giving D.J. (Wilson) some minutes. Joel Bolomboy is a guy that we’re intrigued by and we’re going to look for opportunities for him. We’ll consider that, we’ll look for that, but in the short term we’re fine as is. We’re not going to rush into anything.”

Suns Trade Eric Bledsoe To Bucks

November 7th, 2017 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns and Bucks have finalized a trade that sends Eric Bledsoe to Milwaukee in exchange for Greg Monroe, a 2018 first-round pick, and a 2018 second-round pick. Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN first reported the deal, which has now been officially confirmed by both the Suns and Bucks.

Bledsoe had been publicly on the trade block since the first weekend of the season, when he published a tweet that read “I don’t wanna be here” after the Suns lost their first three games. The veteran point guard had previously – and privately – expressed a desire to be traded, and Phoenix had explored potential deals at that time. However, Bledsoe’s tweet forced the issue, and the team responded by sending him home and pursuing deals more aggressively.

Bledsoe, who will turn 28 next month, is coming off a career year for the Suns in 2016/17. He recorded 21.1 PPG, 6.3 APG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.4 SPG in 66 contests (all starts) before the team shut him down as part of its tanking effort down the stretch. The Suns’ handling of Bledsoe at the end of the season is likely one reason why the former first-round pick wasn’t thrilled with his situation this year.

As trade rumors swirled around Bledsoe, the Bucks were frequently cited as a potential suitor, with Milwaukee and Denver viewed as the most likely landing spots for the disgruntled point guard. So far this season, Malcolm Brogdon has been playing regular minutes at the point guard spot for the Bucks, with Matthew Dellavedova getting the backup minutes and Giannis Antetokounmpo also assuming some ball-handling duties in a point forward role. With Bledsoe entering the mix, Brogdon may begin to see more action at the two.

From an on-court perspective, Monroe doesn’t seem like a fit in Phoenix, considering the team’s frontcourt is already pretty crowded. Alex Len and Tyson Chandler are the Suns’ current centers, though Chandler is a trade candidate. Even if the club hangs onto Chandler, the unbalanced roster isn’t a major issue, since the Suns aren’t in win-now mode. It will be more interesting to see if the Bucks’ frontcourt holds up without Monroe, who played well last season. Milwaukee has been leaning more heavily on John Henson, Mirza Teletovic, and Thon Maker while Monroe has been sidelined with a calf injury.

Monroe is earning $17,884,176 this season and is in the final year of his contract, while Bledsoe is making $14.5MM and has one additional year left at $15MM. The deal will reduce Milwaukee’s team salary by more than $3MM, moving the club comfortably away from the luxury tax threshold. The Bucks will also get a trade exception worth $3,384,176.

However, the team now has about $106MM on its books for 2018/19, without taking into account a qualifying offer or a new contract for Jabari Parker, who will be a restricted free agent. If the Bucks hope to re-sign Parker, they may need to move another contract to avoid becoming a taxpayer.

As for the Suns, they won’t mind taking on a little extra money in the swap, since they still have a significant chunk of cap room. The deal should get their team salary above the required floor for 2017/18, and by trading Bledsoe for Monroe, the Suns also remove $15MM in guaranteed salary from their books for 2018/19, increasing their flexibility to make moves next summer.

Finally, the two draft picks included in the deal include some unusual protections. As first reported by Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link), the second-rounder is top-47 protected. If the second-rounder doesn’t change hands in 2018, it appears the Bucks’ obligation relating to that pick would be extinguished.

As for the first-rounder, the Suns have confirmed the details initially reported by John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter links), who describes the protection on that pick as follows:

Suns receive pick in 2018 it falls between Nos. 11 and 16.
If Suns don’t receive 2018 pick, they’ll receive pick in 2019 if it falls between Nos. 4 and 16.
If Suns don’t receive 2019 pick, they’ll receive 2020 pick (top-7 protected).
If Suns still haven’t received pick after 2020, they’ll receive unprotected 2021 pick.

In addition to potentially landing Milwaukee’s pick in 2018, Phoenix will have its own first-rounder and Miami’s (top-seven protected) for next year’s draft.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Notes: Suns, Bucks, Bledsoe, Monroe, Okafor

November 7th, 2017 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Major early-November NBA trades are rare, but the Suns and Bucks are on the verge of completing one, having agreed in principle to a trade that will send Eric Bledsoe to Milwaukee. Greg Monroe is heading to Phoenix as part of that deal, along with the Bucks’ 2018 first-round pick and 2018 second-round pick.

Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) expressed some surprised that Tyson Chandler wasn’t involved in the trade, since he’s a good friend of Jason Kidd, who has wanted Chandler on his roster in the past. However, Chandler is earning $13MM and is under contract next year as well, so the Bucks would have had to add another substantial salary to the deal to make that happen.

Meanwhile, Chris Haynes of ESPN observes (via Twitter) that the Suns finalized the agreement just when Bledsoe was about to return to the club’s facility to work out, which was either a fortuitous coincidence or a sign that the team really had no interest in having him around.

Here’s more on the Bledsoe trade:

Monroe and his $17MM+ contract appear to be functioning primarily as salary filler to complete this deal, but the Suns have yet to decide whether to keep, trade, or release him, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. If Phoenix buys out Monroe, the big man would be an “obvious candidate” to sign with the Celtics or Thunder, says Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
After trading Monroe, the Bucks look like a match made in heaven for Jahlil Okafor, argues Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype.
While Bledsoe didn’t have a strong preference for where he ended up, Milwaukee was at the top of his wish list, according to Gambadoro, who says the point guard is looking forward to playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo (Twitter links).
Because today’s trade is a one-for-one swap in terms of players, the Suns will still have to open up a roster spot within the next month in order to convert Mike James‘ two-way contract to a standard NBA deal, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
The acquisition of Bledsoe doesn’t come without a good deal of risk for the Bucks, given the point guard’s injury history, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

Eric Bledsoe Fined $10K For Tweet

November 5th, 2017 at 12:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

12:54pm: Bledsoe will return to the Suns’ facility this week and begin working with staff members, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. Bledose won’t rejoin the team, but he will use the facility to remain in game shape in anticipation of a trade (Twitter link).

12:07pm: Suns guard Eric Bledsoe received a $10K fine from the league for the tweet that sparked trade talks and led to his dismissal from the team, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).

Bledsoe, who reportedly asked Suns management to trade him during the preseason, hasn’t played since sending out a tweet that read, “I Dont wanna be here” on October 22. Bledsoe denied the message had anything to do with the team and said it was directed at a hair salon, but GM Ryan McDonough didn’t believe that explanation. Bledsoe was sent home the next day and hasn’t rejoined the team.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN noted (via Twitter) when Bledsoe first published his tweet, the NBA has the ability to penalize a player for a “public statement detrimental to the NBA,” and issued an identical $10K fine to Markieff Morris two years ago when Morris publicly demanded a trade out of Phoenix.

The Suns have been listening to trade offers for the 27-year-old Bledsoe, but haven’t found one to their liking. A rumored deal this week involving the Pistons and Reggie Jackson has apparently fallen through.

Cavaliers Notes: Bledsoe, Okafor, Wade, Irving

November 4th, 2017 at 6:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers were among the teams mentioned when the Eric Bledsoe trade request first went public, but Cleveland should pass on the Suns guard, writes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. In response to a reader’s question, Vardon says Bledsoe doesn’t solve the Cavs’ need for shooters and his desire to start would muddle an already crowded backcourt.

Bledsoe shot 43% from the floor and 34% from 3-point range last season and wouldn’t stretch opposing defenses the way the Cavaliers need. Bledsoe and LeBron James were workout partners this summer, so they have a connection, but Vardon doesn’t expect Cleveland to offer any significant assets. Phoenix is looking for young talent and valuable draft picks, and apart from Brooklyn’s unprotected first-rounder, the Cavs don’t have much to offer in those areas.

Sources also tell Vardon the team isn’t interested in Sixers center Jahlil Okafor.

There’s more today out of Cleveland:

Dwyane Wade won’t rejoin the starting lineup before Isaiah Thomas returns from his hip injury, Vardon adds in the same piece. With Derrick Rose at point guard, the Cavaliers need J.R. Smith starting beside him to provide a 3-point threat. Smith is averaging 5.2 points in nine games this season and struggling with his shot, hitting just .209 from long distance, but he has a history as an effective 3-point shooter. Wade, who hasn’t been much better at .222, started three games at the beginning of the year before asking to be moved to a reserve role.
Cleveland hasn’t figured out how to handle the loss of Kyrie Irving, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Irving played a key role in winning three straight Eastern Conference titles and posted a career-best 25.2 points per game last season to go with 5.8 assists. He gave the offense an explosive quality that has been missing so far this year. “One thing I did notice at Miami, teams were afraid of us a little bit,” Wade said in comparing his old Heat teams with the Cavs. “Ain’t nobody afraid. Maybe at some point it will get there, but not right now. Everyone’s playing free, it’s early in the year, and everything’s going right for everybody but us. And we’ve got to figure it out.”
Coach Tyronn Lue has expressed a desire to “play with pace,” but Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com isn’t convinced that’s the best approach for the NBA’s oldest team.

Pacific Notes: Curry, Rivers, Bledsoe

November 4th, 2017 at 11:19am CST by marksuleymanov

Five years ago, Stephen Curry signed a four-year, $44MM extension with the Warriors. Two NBA Most Valuable Player awards and two NBA championships later, that contract turned out to be a mammoth bargain. However, when Curry originally signed the deal on Halloween 2012, the risk was all on the Warriors, Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic writes.

Before Curry’s mantle was stuffed with MVP trophies and NBA championship rings, he was known as a potentially prolific shooter with troublesome ankles. He missed 56 games with ankle injuries in 2011/12 and tweaked his ankle once again during the 2012/13 preseason. However, before Curry and his representation agreed to the $44MM extension, the Warriors told Curry’s agent Jeff Austin that the team would be willing to offer a max deal in free agency that summer.

“They said if he was healthy at the end of the season, they set aside the max money for him,” Austin said. “The Warriors were terrific the whole process. They told him if he could stay healthy, he would get the max.”

Curry’s team-friendly deal paved the way for Golden State to add players such as Andre Iguodala and last season, Kevin Durant. It also allowed the team the financial flexibility to retain Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The Warriors signed Curry to a supermax deal worth over $201MM this offseason and the team is primed to reach their fourth consecutive NBA Finals.

Below you can find other news from the Pacific Division:

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is not a fan of the NBA’s advanced statistics, most notably pace, Elliot Teaford of The Orange County Register writes. There seems to be a discrepancy in Rivers’ interpretation of pace (having players move efficiently on the court) versus the NBA’s definition (number of possessions per game).
John Wall understands the predicament his former Kentucky teammate, Eric Bledsoe, is in with the Suns, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. “Eric’s situation was that they had some great pieces and some great teams. [Markieff Morris] was with him over there. They had a season where they almost made the playoffs with 48 wins and they didn’t make it.” Wall said. “He’s going into his eighth year and he hasn’t made the playoffs [since 2013]. The team is getting younger and younger and he wants to get out of there and get to a team where he can make the playoffs.”

Southeast Notes: Oubre, Payne, Porter

November 3rd, 2017 at 9:18pm CST by Austin Kent

The Wizards have benefited from third-year swingman Kelly Oubre‘s energy so far this season and the 21-year-old is earning a more substantial role with the squad, Chris Gehring of the team’s official site writes.

On a team built around core trio John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, Oubre has managed to average 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and almost a block per game since sliding into the starting lineup. That spot in the first unit may not last but the impact Oubre’s had on the team could.

“He has the ability, and at times last year it went up and down. But he hasn’t had those dips yet this year, though it’s early,” head coach Scott Brooks said. “He’s definitely improved with all of the hard work he put in.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

After going 15th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, Adreian Payne‘s NBA opportunities have come few and far between. Now a member of the Magic, the Michigan State product is excited to earn another shot. “I haven’t really gotten a chance to play the whole time I’ve been in the NBA,” Payne told Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. “Being able to spend some time down in the G League, to work on my game, to get better, to just be able to become a better person and a better player, on the court and off the court. I think it is going to help me grow, and then when I get called up and be able to play with the Magic team, I’ll be that Adreian that I was when I was in college.”
Don’t expect the Hornets to make a play for somebody like Eric Bledsoe, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. A lateral move to add another point guard to the mix alongside Kemba Walker wouldn’t be worth what the Suns would presumably want for him.
The Wizards paid big bucks to bring Otto Porter back and, to this point, LeBron James believes he’s earned his $107MM contract. “He’s worked on his game extremely well and he’s earned the big paycheck that he got,” James told Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.

Pacific Notes: Russell, Teodosic, Randle

November 3rd, 2017 at 6:58pm CST by Austin Kent

After spending his first two seasons with the Lakers, D’Angelo Russell will face them as a member of the Nets tonight. As Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes, Los Angeles him expects him to be fired up in his return to the Staples Center.

“You see him right now in Brooklyn, he’s cooking,” former Lakers teammate Jordan Clarkson said. “He’s balling. … He’s got a new home, feel like it’s the right fit for him. He’s able to create, score, have the ball in his hands a lot, play the style of play that he wants to.”

In seven games with the Nets this year, the Lakers’ second-overall pick in 2015 has averaged 21.7 points and 5.0 assists per game. Those numbers are up from his sophomore figures of 15.6 and 4.8, despite playing over two minutes less per contest thus far in 2017/18.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Injured guard Milos Teodosic has shown progress in his recovery from a plantar fascia injury in his left foot but there’s still no timetable for his return. Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Clippers rookie is now getting around in a walking boot, whereas previously he was confined to a scooter.
As we wrote about earlier today, Larry Nance Jr. will miss four to six weeks undergoing surgery for a hand fracture. That could spell a big opportunity for Julius Randle, the forward slotted behind him in the depth chart. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Randle’s role change could be particularly significant considering that the pending restricted free agent’s qualifying offer amount could increase if Randle starts at least nine games this season.
Don’t expect 17-year veteran Tyson Chandler to demand a trade out of Phoenix, Michael Lee of The Vertical writes in an excellent feature. The 35-year-old Suns big man may be on a different timeline than the rest of the franchise but doesn’t plan on forcing his way out of town. He spoke about teammate Eric Bledsoe who, well, has. “I’m not surprised about that. I kind of saw that stuff coming,” Chandler said. “He’s in a different place than I’m in. He’s in the prime of his career. Everything that happened last season and then rolling over into the summer, of course, I felt like it could’ve been handled differently. But I understand his stance and I understand it’s his career. He’s got to eat. He ultimately has to make his own decisions, as a man.”

SVG: Pistons Not Trading Jackson For Bledsoe

November 3rd, 2017 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

After trade rumors surrounding Eric Bledsoe and Reggie Jackson swirled on Thursday, Pistons head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy once again assured his starting point guard that no deal is in the works, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News details.

“It was crazy yesterday,” Van Gundy said on Friday. “I left practice yesterday and there’s a rumor out on Reggie and Bledsoe so I had to get home and call Reggie and say we’re not trading you for Bledsoe. I don’t usually address all of them, but it’s early in the (season). You can’t address all of them at the trade deadline, but I felt the need to address this.”

Van Gundy acknowledged that Pistons general manager Jeff Bower is active when it comes to reaching out about trade possibilities and doing his due diligence. However, SVG confirmed that a rumored deal involving the Pistons, Suns, and Pelicans – described yesterday as “dead’ – doesn’t have legs. The hypothetical three-team swap would have seen the Pistons give up Jackson and a first-round pick in exchange for Bledsoe.

For the Pistons, it’s a situation eerily reminiscent of one that took place last January. At that time, reports linked the Pistons and Jackson to a possible Ricky Rubio trade, and Van Gundy publicly denied that such a deal would happen. He was right about that, and there’s no reason to believe he’s misleading reporters and fans about the possibility of a Bledsoe deal either.

Still, the fact that Van Gundy keeps having to come out and shoot down reports involving Jackson suggests that the Pistons continue to explore possible point guard deals, even with the 27-year-old off to a strong start this season. For his part, Jackson says he’s not worried about his name popping up in trade rumors once again.

“I don’t pay attention and really don’t care (about rumors),” Jackson said. “I’m still in Detroit and still here to compete and make my team the best it can be. If something else happens, it happens. That’s not something I’m concerned about.”

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