Suns, Eric Bledsoe Far Apart In Talks

Phrazbit

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Take this with a large grain of salt. I was reading on another forum that according to a Suns 'insider' Blesdoe's agent received a "near max" offer from another team early in free agency. Paul tried to push for more and the team in question moved on to other targets. This "insider" goes by the name Traxxe and apparently has history enough that there are some fans who buy his words as gospel, and others who think its non-sense. I'm more including to lean towards non-sense but I thought I'd share it here anyway since there is not much else to blather about at the moment and I was curious if anyone here had heard of this supposed insider.

IF true, its just more evidence that Rich Paul is a buffoon.
 

Azlen

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Take this with a large grain of salt. I was reading on another forum that according to a Suns 'insider' Blesdoe's agent received a "near max" offer from another team early in free agency. Paul tried to push for more and the team in question moved on to other targets. This "insider" goes by the name Traxxe and apparently has history enough that there are some fans who buy his words as gospel, and others who think its non-sense. I'm more including to lean towards non-sense but I thought I'd share it here anyway since there is not much else to blather about at the moment and I was curious if anyone here had heard of this supposed insider.

IF true, its just more evidence that Rich Paul is a buffoon.

I haven't heard of this insider but was wondering if something like that happened. We heard there were teams interested but then nothing came out of it. Typically when a team is interested they will start talking numbers. If an offer doesn't come out it means they couldn't agree and the team moved on. I don't believe that Bledsoe didn't get any offers, I believe his agent turned down the ones he did get, so I don't have a hard time believing that rumor. Rich Paul is a buffoon.
 

elindholm

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This "insider" goes by the name Traxxe and apparently has history enough that there are some fans who buy his words as gospel, and others who think its non-sense.

I distinctly remember Traxxe being exposed as a fraud before. He could be right in this case, but it would be by accident.
 

Azlen

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Bledsoe hasn't talked...that doesn't mean his agent hasn't.

From what I gather there has been no negotiating going on at all. The Suns haven't heard much from Bledsoe or his agent. The Suns want to negotiate and Bledsoe's side has been quiet. If his agent is talking, who exactly is he talking to? What is he doing?
 

82CardsGrad

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From what I gather there has been no negotiating going on at all. The Suns haven't heard much from Bledsoe or his agent. The Suns want to negotiate and Bledsoe's side has been quiet. If his agent is talking, who exactly is he talking to? What is he doing?

Yup... Burns and Gambo reported that, in a conversation with Paul Corbo, Sarver said that it's been more than 4 MONTHS since the 2 sides have talked!!! Yet, Sarver continues to say that he is more than willing to sit at the table and continue negotiations...
Bledoe's agent is a MORON!!!
 

Mainstreet

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That same article mentions Bledsoe having a 2nd agent: Mark Termini. He has a good sized client list, but most of them are playing overseas or with nobody at all. His only NBA client other than Bledsoe is Kosta Koufos.

Looks like Bledsoe has surrounded himself with the worst possible agents he could.

Maybe the Suns are experiencing the Lebron effect with Bledsoe having the same agent(s) and reportedly being friends with Lebron. The difference, Lebron could name about anything he wants and get it. Of course Bledsoe does not have the same leverage and his agent should know it.
 

BC867

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Bledsoe hasn't talked...that doesn't mean his agent hasn't.
In physics, two negatives equal a positive.

In real life, two negatives don't necessarily equal a positive. Especially in a discussion with divergent opinions.

Or as the joke about the Physics professor in front of the auditorium goes, he says, "Two negatives equal a positive. A positive and a negative equal a negative. A negative and a positive equal a negative. But two positives never equal a negative."

And from the back of the auditorium a voice says, "Yeah, right." :)
 

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Not communicating for four months is just insulting behavior. Insulting the people that hold your future in their hands and WANT to pay you tens of millions of dollars is just really amazing.

I am really impressed with the suns front office and their restraint.

From what I gather there has been no negotiating going on at all. The Suns haven't heard much from Bledsoe or his agent. The Suns want to negotiate and Bledsoe's side has been quiet. If his agent is talking, who exactly is he talking to? What is he doing?

Yeah, Sarver has actually been handling everything with dignity, maturity and restraint... who'd have thought?

Its a catch 22 for Bledsoe in a way. If he wants to get out of here at all costs, then he's risking a whole year playing at the QO, while the team will have absolutely no reason to put his desires first, which could completely affect his on court chemistry and numbers to the point where his next contract is influenced by it.

He's playing with fire.
 

Mainstreet

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Yeah, Sarver has actually been handling everything with dignity, maturity and restraint... who'd have thought?

Its a catch 22 for Bledsoe in a way. If he wants to get out of here at all costs, then he's risking a whole year playing at the QO, while the team will have absolutely no reason to put his desires first, which could completely affect his on court chemistry and numbers to the point where his next contract is influenced by it.

He's playing with fire.

I think Sarver has accepted guidance and found confidence in Babby and McDonough making basketball decisions.
 

TJ

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Bledsoe's agent is uneducated and is relying on street smarts to leverage a deal. Rich Paul has successfully pigeonholed his client and now has no leverage except for a roll of the dice deal to play out the QO with only $3.7 mil guaranteed and hope he's healthy enough to get more than $12 mil/year next season.

Paul needs to learn that it's different negotiating LeBron's contract, which sells itself, versus Eric Bledsoe's deal, which takes a little more creativity and requires more attention to detail.
 

Chaplin

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I still think a question that hasn't adequately been answered is how Bledsoe fits into our plans if he takes the QO. He will be in a place where he will have to play for his next contract, but if he has burned bridges by taking this route, what possible motivation do we have to play him like a star? If we know he isn't going to be part of our future, why bother playing him at all? He's making the choice.

Now I know the Suns organization aren't a bunch of jerks and probably won't deliberately limit his minutes, but I think it's an intriguing question. This isn't some end-of-the-bench guy who we don't care about. I just don't see the motivation by the Suns to play a guy who doesn't give a damn about being on the team.
 

Azlen

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Let's say that Bledsoe rolls the dice and plays for the QO. Doing that says loud and clear that he has no desire to play here any longer than he has to. So if you're the Suns and you know he's totally playing for himself and not the team, how much do you play him? How do his teammates react to him knowing that he wants to be somewhere else? Hopefully we won't have to find out.
 

KloD

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It should also be mentioned that if he does take the QO for next season, he is afforded the right to deny any trade. So the Suns aren't only limited to trading him to a team he wants to play for, they are also limited in what they can get back due to the low salary he will be making. The Suns will retain the ability to pay him more than anyone else, but that seems like a waste since his going that route pretty much says he doesn't want to play for the team. So if he does make that choice, he is screwing the Suns. That has to play into how they use him next year. Do they play him a lot and not worry about injury, or do they bench him for not being mentally on the team?
 

BC867

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It should also be mentioned that if he does take the QO for next season, he is afforded the right to deny any trade. So the Suns aren't only limited to trading him to a team he wants to play for, they are also limited in what they can get back due to the low salary he will be making. The Suns will retain the ability to pay him more than anyone else, but that seems like a waste since his going that route pretty much says he doesn't want to play for the team. So if he does make that choice, he is screwing the Suns. That has to play into how they use him next year. Do they play him a lot and not worry about injury, or do they bench him for not being mentally on the team?
That's it! Play him 48 minutes a game (more, if overtime) at the Point. Three weeks later when he and his knees blow out, get serious. :D
 

Mainstreet

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I still think a question that hasn't adequately been answered is how Bledsoe fits into our plans if he takes the QO. He will be in a place where he will have to play for his next contract, but if he has burned bridges by taking this route, what possible motivation do we have to play him like a star? If we know he isn't going to be part of our future, why bother playing him at all? He's making the choice.

Now I know the Suns organization aren't a bunch of jerks and probably won't deliberately limit his minutes, but I think it's an intriguing question. This isn't some end-of-the-bench guy who we don't care about. I just don't see the motivation by the Suns to play a guy who doesn't give a damn about being on the team.

I sort of answered that question earlier in a joking manner. :)

On my dark side I would keep him on a qualifying contract and let him sit out the season. :devil:

The Suns could let him sit if he is not part of the future and play Ennis. There is always the Tim Thomas situation with Chicago. The downside is the Suns being out the money and giving the media something to talk about until next summer... so this is not going to happen. In reality though, I think the Suns will move Bledsoe for something.
 

Superbone

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...stons-greg-monroe-suns-eric-bledsoe/13967777/

The relationship between the two sides (Bledsoe/Suns) has soured, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The person also said Bledsoe, 24, strongly is considering signing the Suns' qualifying offer for $3.726 million — good for the 2014-15 season — to become an unrestricted free agent after next summer.
 

AzStevenCal

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It should also be mentioned that if he does take the QO for next season, he is afforded the right to deny any trade. So the Suns aren't only limited to trading him to a team he wants to play for, they are also limited in what they can get back due to the low salary he will be making. The Suns will retain the ability to pay him more than anyone else, but that seems like a waste since his going that route pretty much says he doesn't want to play for the team. So if he does make that choice, he is screwing the Suns. That has to play into how they use him next year. Do they play him a lot and not worry about injury, or do they bench him for not being mentally on the team?

I think you just do the right thing no matter what. If it's in our best interests to play Ennis because we're going nowhere then so be it. If we're in a playoff battle and Bledsoe is giving full effort, you play Eric. If he takes the QO, he's pretty much here for just the season for the reasons you mentioned plus the loss of Bird Rights. So just treat him like a one year rental and don't do anything below the belt. Coming out of this with our dignity intact would be about the most we could hope for if it goes this route.

Steve
 

Phrazbit

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I distinctly remember Traxxe being exposed as a fraud before. He could be right in this case, but it would be by accident.

I figured as much. The more level headed of the forum seemed to be poo-pooing on source.

Although, I agree that it could be true by coincidence. I would not be surprised if Dallas or Houston made inquiries before moving onto Parsons and Bosh.
 

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Seems to me that he (or his agent by proxy) want all or nothing.

It seems he doesn't want to be here but I have to wonder if he wants to be anywhere for less than the max yearly salary. If the Suns offered him 5/80 he would be on a plane tomorrow whether he wanted to be here or not.
 

Mainstreet

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Seems to me that he (or his agent by proxy) want all or nothing.

It seems he doesn't want to be here but I have to wonder if he wants to be anywhere for less than the max yearly salary. If the Suns offered him 5/80 he would be on a plane tomorrow whether he wanted to be here or not.

No doubt in my mind. The bottom line is money.

Personally, I just want him out of here although I do not want the Suns to appease Bledsoe. Hopefully McDonough has a backup plan. If there was a mutually agreeable team to send him to on a qualifying offer or trade it would be Indiana because of the injury to Paul George and their front office has treated the Suns fairly.
 
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sunsfan88

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Now that Monroe's taken the QO, I think it will give Bledsoe more confidence to do the same.

Bledsoe and his agent are too stupid to realize that Monroe is one of the most durable bigs in basketball while Bledsoe is an extremely injury prone guard.
 

Cheesebeef

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Now that Monroe's taken the QO, I think it will give Bledsoe more confidence to do the same.

Monroe hasn't take the QO. He said he's "definitely willing to"...which in other words, he's bluffing until he does.
 

AzStevenCal

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Monroe hasn't take the QO. He said he's "definitely willing to"...which in other words, he's bluffing until he does.

You're right but it actually makes some sense for Monroe to take the QO. First off, it's a better offer than Bledsoe's QO and he doesn't have much of an injury risk given that he rarely hits the floor or leaves the floor. Also, he can do it and not burn his Detroit bridges. He'll still be able to sign with Detroit for the home team maximum which is what this is mostly about. Also, it gives him a season to see if SVG can turn them around and to see if they can perhaps get rid of Josh Smith.

I can't see justification for Bledsoe doing it if he really wants max dollars and the relationship is as broken as they suggest. Without his Bird rights he's going to have trouble just making up what he'll lose by taking the QO. I still think it's a bluff but if it's not, I don't see it playing out well for Eric or us.

Steve
 

sunsfan88

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Monroe hasn't take the QO. He said he's "definitely willing to"...which in other words, he's bluffing until he does.

USA Today (credible source) reported that Monroe has told the Pistons that he's taking their QO.
 
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