SH Blog: Looking at the Eric Bledsoe options

For a Saturday in late August, there’s a shocking amount of NBA news today. Most of it, though, fits into one of two camps: the Kevin Love trade is official, and Team USA cut their roster down to the final 12.

We’ve all known about the Love trade for a month, of course, and Chris Sheridan’s got everything you need to read about Team USA heading into the World Cup.

So let’s instead turn our attention to a subject that hasn’t gotten as much press of late: Eric Bledsoe and his restricted free agency debacle.

In case you’ve forgotten, check out this film study from Kellan Olson of Bright Side of the Sun to remember just why Eric Bledsoe is so good, and why he can play both on and off the ball despite not being renowned as a shooter.

Now, here’s the tricky part: Bledsoe really doesn’t want to go back to the Suns, and nobody wants to pay him what he feels he’s worth. Here’s Tom Ziller of SB Nation on the Bledsoe conundrum:

The basic fact is that Bledsoe and the Suns are at a stalemate. He wants more than Phoenix is willing to offer and neither side will budge. Since he’s a restricted free agent, the opportunity to ensure separation from the franchise he feels is slighting him is not under his control. If he signs an offer sheet from another team, Phoenix can match and he’d be forced to play for the Suns, with whom he is currently muy angry.

In that sense, a sign-and-trade that improves Phoenix’s frontcourt might be the best solution. The Suns would miss Bledsoe (he’s fantastic!) but Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas would certainly ease the pain. Meanwhile, Bledsoe is good enough to draw a major frontcourt talent, which would help the Suns get over Channing Frye (who decamped for Orlando). Bledsoe gets paid by a team other than the Suns, Phoenix avoids dropping max money on a dice roll with a recent injury history as long as Gerald Green’s treasured Epic Dunks I Will Do Someday list and improves its roster.

The problem, as always, is in the details.

Again, Bledsoe is a restricted free agent. He can sign an offer sheet from any team. Once he does, the Suns have 72 hours to match or decline it. If they match, Bledsoe is a Sun and cannot be traded to the team who offered the contract for a year. If they decline, Bledsoe joins the offering team at the offering price and the Suns get nothing. Those are the only two outcomes possible once Bledsoe signs an offer sheet.

So, he can’t sign a deal he really doesn’t want just to put pressure on Phoenix. Once he signs, the game is done. It’s just a matter of which team he reports to in October.

Ziller says that the one option that could come into play is a sign-and-trade with a currently maxed-out contender. Now, for there to be a match, a team would have to help the Suns in their area of need (the frontcourt), and also need help in their backcourt. There’s not many teams that fit that description. A quick glance showed a few teams that would probably jump at the chance to add Bledsoe (the Heat and Mavs chief among them), not many genuine matches.

One interesting possibility is the Pistons, who have a disgruntled RFA of their own, Greg Monroe, who just so happens to be a skilled seven-footer. They also have a natural 4, Josh Smith, playing the 3, their starting point guard is Brandon Jennings, and their starting shooting guard is Jodie Meeks. Now, there’s obvious reasons why a Bledsoe/Monroe trade isn’t going to happen, chief among them money, but on paper, with both guys unhappy with their offers and both teams dealing from strength to fill weakness, it seems like an ideal situation.

If and when something happens with with the last, best free agents, we’ll have it for you here on SheridanHoops. For now, let’s get to the latest from around the NBA.

• If the Lakers are going to be the Lakers again (not last year’s Lakers) this season, they’re going to need Kobe to be Kobe again. Ben Bolch of the L.A. Times has pretty much the definitive take on the likelihood of that happening: “Bryant’s body hasn’t withstood a full 82-game schedule since the 2010-11 season. He missed eight games during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, the final four games of the 2012-13 season and 76 games last season while recovering from a torn left Achilles’ tendon and a fractured left knee he sustained six games into his comeback. Of course, there is an upside to playing less basketball over the last 17 months than at any point since he was a tyke. “Quite honestly, I think we’re going to see a better Kobe Bryant than we’ve seen in the last couple of years because he’s had time to rest and rehabilitate,” said Dr. Alan Beyer, executive director of the Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine. Beyer said Bryant is not at an increased risk to reinjure the areas that sidelined him last season but acknowledged he is more susceptible to injuries associated with advanced basketball age. Working in Bryant’s favor is an almost maniacal devotion to staying in shape and perfecting every aspect of his game. Scott said he had to tell Bryant to cool it when Bryant talked about wanting to play pickup games nearly two months before the start of training camp. “I was like, ‘Slow down a little bit, Kobe,’ ” Scott said.”
• Becky Hammon is about to become a Spurs assistant coach, because her playing career just ended with a five-point loss to WNBA MVP Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx: “Hammon, who is retiring after 16 seasons in the WNBA, had 12 points and four assists in her final game. She received a standing ovation and received warm wishes from Minnesota’s players, especially Augustus.”I just congratulated her and said that I love her,” Augustus said. “Thank you for everything you did for women and sports.” … The Stars scored the game’s first seven points and went on to a 22-4 lead. The early run included a turnaround jumper and a 3-pointer by Adams.”It was a shame to start the game that way and then just kind of trail off,” Hammon said. “We know they are a great team and have tremendous scorers. To do what we did in the first quarter and for them to still ring up 90-plus points, they really put it on us from second quarter on.”
• Newsflash: NBA players are better than non-NBA players. Andray Blatche put up 33 points and 17 boards, but the Philippines couldn’t overcome the African champions as they lost to Angola.