I was thinking with all the talk of finding a star mostly matching what the Suns currently need position wise, preferably a Power Forward but could use help really at Small Forward or Center also. What if the team went another direction and traded Bledsoe? Here is a trade I was thinking, it works salary wise and also because Oklahoma has shown they can play well without him. We would probably need to pitch in some picks but depending on which picks and how many I would make this deal.
Suns send - Bledsoe, Okafor, Len and Green
Thunder send - Westbrook and Perkins
The trade still works salary wise without Len so he doesn't have to be part of the deal. If he was though I would think less picks would need to be included and also worse picks could be used. He has shown a good amount of potential recently and I wouldn't want to lose him as just a throw in but the trade works with or without him. Same goes for Green also, if Len is included he doesn't need to be to make it work with salaries. Both could go and it would work but if I had to choose one to keep I'd keep Len.
Why Oklahoma would do the trade is fairly simple. They gain assets in the draft picks plus Len, if included, shred some salary to get some flexibility losing Perkins contract and getting Westbrook off the books for the next 4 year. They have shown they can play really well without him and I think Bledsoe and Green make up for what Westbrook would provide. Bledsoe is a little bit younger and will be a little easier on their cap long term also.
Phoenix has shown they are ok without Bledsoe and Westbrook would be an upgrade. Dragic has shown he can play with another ball dominant guard as well. Perkins can be moved in the off season or next year as an expiring contract and having Westbrook locked up for the next 4 years is better than possibly over paying to keep Bledsoe considering he may not be a max player but they may have to pay max money to keep him. Westbrook is a max player plus I think he would be ok with being the primary focus of the offense, in OK he will always be secondary to Durant.
Thoughts?
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine/?tradeId=knkadxm
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