takers for Bledsoe?

[Mainstreet]

Yeah well that talk isn't consistent with his shopping/benching players. If he doesn't deal Chandler and plays Bledsoe then maybe I start believing.

The interview was at the beginning of the season prior to the Bledsoe incident.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

And more.

shhh. Dont tell JC that!!!

 

[JCSunsfan]

shhh. Dont tell JC that!!!

I heard the same thing. This all comes from the same interview. I just took his intent differently. To me, it sounded like an "I believe in these guys" comment rather than any kind of ultimatim.

Sorry NAZ. Didn't intend to pick on you.

 

[Mainstreet]

It certainly was not an ultimatum but Sarver's expectations for the team. I'm not sure anyone said it was an ultimatum.

 

[Folster]

The Cavs just lost badly to the Knicks at home.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The Cavs just lost badly to the Knicks at home.

So, who is going to cave first? LeBron or Cavs mgmt.

 

[GatorAZ]

So, who is going to cave first? LeBron or Cavs mgmt.

They couldn't care less about the regular season. Isaiah will be good in a couple months.

 

[Hoop Head]

If they Cavs didn't get Wade then I think they would have made a deal for Bledsoe already. I know Wade is hurt but he's Lebron's buddy and also their 6th man, when healthy. Bringing in Bledsoe will create a logjam for them in March and April with Bledsoe, IT, Rose, Wade, Jr Smith, and Kyle Korver. I don't think they want to pay IT what he's asking though and if they don't win a title this year then I'm not sure if he's resigned at all. Bledsoe will be cheaper but it all depends on what Lebron wants.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If they Cavs didn't get Wade then I think they would have made a deal for Bledsoe already. I know Wade is hurt but he's Lebron's buddy and also their 6th man, when healthy. Bringing in Bledsoe will create a logjam for them in March and April with Bledsoe, IT, Rose, Wade, Jr Smith, and Kyle Korver. I don't think they want to pay IT what he's asking though and if they don't win a title this year then I'm not sure if he's resigned at all. Bledsoe will be cheaper but it all depends on what Lebron wants.

We could take back IT in a trade for Bledsoe, and then we could move him at the trade deadline to a team needing playoff help.

 

[pokerface]

We could take back IT in a trade for Bledsoe, and then we could move him at the trade deadline to a team needing playoff help.

I actually thought of that today after the Cavs lost to NY. I was thinking of how this can happen. I mean how many more losses can the Cavs endure before pulling a trade??

 

[Hoop Head]

We could take back IT in a trade for Bledsoe, and then we could move him at the trade deadline to a team needing playoff help.

Which would mean the Cavs got Bledsoe and Zizic for Irving? I assume you're including the Nets pick in the package they send to us. We can get more than just a player to try and flip elsewhere for a return for Bledsoe, if you're not including the pick. We might as well hold onto him if that's the case. There's no telling what IT would get in return around the deadline but it would require him to play for a couple weeks if we wanted anything of value.

If IT was 2 years younger or had 1 more year on his deal, I'd actually be open to a Bledsoe/IT swap. It would be a gamble but one worth taking IMO. I've been thinking about it a lot since reading your post and thinking about all of the angles to it and it's intriguing. However at his age, with his injury, it's not worth the risk as things are. Like I said, if he had 1 more year under contract though it'd be different. Then we could see how he meshed with our core group of youngsters, how he looks after his injury, and also know what we could trade him for. That would give us enough time to evaluate things more. There's a chance he could do for us what he did in Boston, take a young team that most thought was a few years away from contending or being a playoff team and push them into the playoffs and turning them into contenders in the East. He accelerated their timeline by a few years. If he signs a 5 year max, like he wants, he'll be 33 when it's over, so he should be good through the first 3-4 years of that deal, being in his prime right now. By the time he starts to decline on the court he could hand the keys of the team to Booker, who should be entering his prime at that point. Could those 2 coexist in the meantime though? That is what makes it difficult to decide.

As is we'd only have a small window to figure out what his future would be. If we swapped Bledsoe for him he'd have to play before any team offers anything of value to rent him for the postseason. We'd have a couple of weeks and handful of games to figure out if it was worth it to gamble on keeping him for max money or trading him for whatever we can get. Since he'd be a 3 month rental coming off of an injury, I can't see that being much. We could let him play out the year with our team, which would effect our draft positioning, to see if he meshes with Booker and could do for us what he did for Boston, accelerate the timeline. He's a star but is he the sort of star we should attach ourselves to in hopes he leads us to the playoffs and contention?

Whoever signs him to the max is stuck with him for 4 years because he's not going to be able to be traded easily while making that sort of money. For whatever reason he's one of the most undervalued stars in the league. I know his size is an issue but there has to be more than that because he's been successful despite his size. Last year he was 2nd team All-NBA, an All-Star, led the league in 4th quarter scoring, was 3rd in PPG, and was the best player on the #1 seeded team in the East. He also finished 5th in MVP voting but should have been 3rd, ahead of Lebron and Kawhi. It wasn't just a great year either, he's been All-Star since he went to Boston and led them to the playoffs all 3 seasons he was there, which no one expected. The team was 21-32 when they acquired him in 2015 and they finished 40-42 and made the playoffs while going 19-10 with him there. He was good here in Phoenix and in Sacramento also. Now that we can look back it's clear that it was the Suns and the Kings that had issues that were way beyond IT. Boston was the first team that let him be their guy though and it paid off for them with 3 straight trips to the playoffs and having the best record in the East last year.

 

[Phrazbit]

Then why did he bench Bledsoe last season? Because they wanted to win more games??

If you think the way Bledsoe was playing last year compared to this year is remotely similar then you're living in a different universe.

Bledsoe last year was playing at a near all-star level and CLEARLY a catalyst for winning games, Bledsoe this year didn't give 2 squirts. His effort in the Clippers game was about as bad as I've ever seen a player dog it... ever. And then he followed that up with his "I don't wanna be here" tweet and then his lie about his motive for the tweet.

If you think that benching THAT version of Eric Bledsoe "helps the tank" then you are insane. It was obvious that they literally COULDN'T get worse than they were, if the front office's goal was purely to be terrible for a draft pick then Bledsoe would still be on the court.

 

[Mainstreet]

For the fun of it, IT and Ulis as the Suns point guards.

IMO, the Celtics gave IT the short end of the stick because he is not going to get the max on a new contract.

 

[95pro]

For the fun of it, IT and Ulis as the Suns point guards.

IMO, the Celtics gave IT the short end of the stick because he is not going to get the max on a new contract.

Another reason was because of the hip injury. What a better time to sell high on a guy, his new team whoever it could have been would not have given him the max.

 

[Mainstreet]

Another reason was because of the hip injury. What a better time to sell high on a guy, his new team whoever it could have been would not have given him the max.

I agree, the injury to IT was another reason for the Celtics to trade him. However, IT felt the Celtics were going to give him the max so he will probably get short changed on a new contract.

 

[Finito]

Celtics were never going to give him the Max even before the injury. Ainge ain't gonna bet the franchise on a 5'9 PG.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I actually thought of that today after the Cavs lost to NY. I was thinking of how this can happen. I mean how many more losses can the Cavs endure before pulling a trade??

Yep. Especially because Bledsoe is just sitting there available.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If you think the way Bledsoe was playing last year compared to this year is remotely similar then you're living in a different universe.

Bledsoe last year was playing at a near all-star level and CLEARLY a catalyst for winning games, Bledsoe this year didn't give 2 squirts. His effort in the Clippers game was about as bad as I've ever seen a player dog it... ever. And then he followed that up with his "I don't wanna be here" tweet and then his lie about his motive for the tweet.

If you think that benching THAT version of Eric Bledsoe "helps the tank" then you are insane. It was obvious that they literally COULDN'T get worse than they were, if the front office's goal was purely to be terrible for a draft pick then Bledsoe would still be on the court.

Exactly

 

[JCSunsfan]

If you think the way Bledsoe was playing last year compared to this year is remotely similar then you're living in a different universe.

Bledsoe last year was playing at a near all-star level and CLEARLY a catalyst for winning games, Bledsoe this year didn't give 2 squirts. His effort in the Clippers game was about as bad as I've ever seen a player dog it... ever. And then he followed that up with his "I don't wanna be here" tweet and then his lie about his motive for the tweet.

If you think that benching THAT version of Eric Bledsoe "helps the tank" then you are insane. It was obvious that they literally COULDN'T get worse than they were, if the front office's goal was purely to be terrible for a draft pick then Bledsoe would still be on the court.

Here is why I think Bledsoe is sitting:

1. He was clearly dogging it, badly.
2. He had told mgmt he wanted a trade.
3. His play was damaging his trade value by the minute.
4. He tweeted and lied, damaging his trade value.

I think McD was just trying to preserve some trade value for Bled. If he continued to play as poorly as he was, no one would want him at all. It seems that Bled might have actually been dogging it to damage his value on purpose, so that it would be easier for a team like Cleveland to trade for him. The only damage control they could do in this situation was to sit him until they get a trade.

The public criticism by McD was frustration at such unprofessional and manipulative behavior.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

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[JCSunsfan]

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So funny. My answer is "so what?" What difference does it make if we pay for him to sit home or take back someone else's trash in trade and pay them? The salary we are paying Bledsoe has no relevance to the present situation. If we were to start playing him again, he would be a distraction. If we trade him for poo poo, we still have to pay for it.

Bledsoe is a 20 pt 6 assist player, who is capable of decent defense. We know this. I do not think there is a doubt in anyone's mind that he is capable of doing that again. His defense has not been good in the last year because he has had a coach who didn't care about defense. Put him on a good team and he will excel on both ends of the floor. If Bledsoe would play for the Suns the way that he is capable of playing, he would be, by far, the best option for this team. But he wants out.

Look around the league. How many 20 point 6 assist 6 rebound pg's are there? So we will wait until someone offers something appropriate.

 

[CardsFan88]

So funny. My answer is "so what?" What difference does it make if we pay for him to sit home or take back someone else's trash in trade and pay them? The salary we are paying Bledsoe has no relevance to the present situation. If we were to start playing him again, he would be a distraction. If we trade him for poo poo, we still have to pay for it.

Bledsoe is a 20 pt 6 assist player, who is capable of decent defense. We know this. I do not think there is a doubt in anyone's mind that he is capable of doing that again. His defense has not been good in the last year because he has had a coach who didn't care about defense. Put him on a good team and he will excel on both ends of the floor. If Bledsoe would play for the Suns the way that he is capable of playing, he would be, by far, the best option for this team. But he wants out.

Look around the league. How many 20 point 6 assist 6 rebound pg's are there? So we will wait until someone offers something appropriate.

Yeah the media just doesn't respect us. If we trade him for dog poo, they'll say... why didn't you hold on to him until a better offer. If we start him and he gets injured/creates distraction, they'll say why didn't we keep sitting him.

It's more about the journalist trying to create drama then having a point. Guaranteed contracts are guaranteed contracts.

 

[BC867]

So funny. My answer is "so what?" What difference does it make if we pay for him to sit home or take back someone else's trash in trade and pay them? The salary we are paying Bledsoe has no relevance to the present situation. If we were to start playing him again, he would be a distraction. If we trade him for poo poo, we still have to pay for it.

Bledsoe is a 20 pt 6 assist player, who is capable of decent defense. We know this. I do not think there is a doubt in anyone's mind that he is capable of doing that again. His defense has not been good in the last year because he has had a coach who didn't care about defense. Put him on a good team and he will excel on both ends of the floor. If Bledsoe would play for the Suns the way that he is capable of playing, he would be, by far, the best option for this team. But he wants out.

Look around the league. How many 20 point 6 assist 6 rebound pg's are there? So we will wait until someone offers something appropriate.

I still feel that the greatest consideration from our Point Guards, on this young team, are can they make the rest of the team better?

Bledsoe . . . Knight . . . no!! Regardless of their stats.

 

[Mainstreet]

I found this tidbit this morning. The Suns may be interested in Okafor. And they certainly have the second round picks.

Colangelo has remained determined to find an Okafor trade that will bring the Sixers back an asset, but the Sixers ultimate deal point could be centered on future second-round draft picks, league sources told ESPN.

Several teams have shown interest in Okafor as a reclamation project, and league sources said that the aftermath of a possible Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe trade could trigger the freeing of a roster spot or salary cap space for a team to absorb Okafor. The Suns have been monitoring Okafor's circumstance with the 76ers, and a Bledsoe deal could create the moving parts around the league necessary for Okafor to be relocated.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21257571/philadelphia-76ers-continue-work-trading-jahlil-okafor