Can the Bulls become a serious bidder for Eric Bledsoe?
The seemingly “classic Bulls move” could actually work for a Chicago franchise lacking anything resembling a play maker
The tweet heard round the world that re-started the ‘Eric Bledsoe wants out of Phoenix’ talks was “I Dont wanna be here”. When Bledsoe and Suns general manager Ryan McDonough met to discuss the tweet and the fallout from it….let’s just say things did not go well.
You guys saw his tweet last night,” he said. “I gave him a call last night and asked him about that tweet just to clarify what he meant by it and he said he was at a hair salon. It wasn’t about the Suns or anything related to the Suns. He said he was at a hair salon with his girl and he didn’t want to be there anymore.
“I don’t believe that to be true.”
— As reported by Arizona Sports 98.7 FM
Yikes.
So far, this situation does not look good for Bledsoe or the Suns. Multiple reports have stated that Phoenix wants good, young talent in return, in addition to a trade partner taking on the last two years and $13 million dollars of Tyson Chandler’s contract.
Having a high asking price is sort of absurd considering how public Bledsoe’s trade demand was. You could almost call it “Gar Forman-like”. But eventually the Suns will deal Bledsoe because no one wants to pay millions of dollars to see their starting point guard showing off his yo-yo skills at home, while his peers are battling early in the ‘17-’18 NBA season.
Bledose does not have a no-trade clause, so Phoenix can deal him anywhere. That is where Chicago comes into play. Besides “Lauri Markkanen-Mania” and the guaranteed high draft pick, there isn’t much to keep Bulls fans interested this year. As proved with the Dwyane Wade signing, the Bulls management loves veterans, and especially when it can even momentarily distract from other problems within the organization.
The Bulls are 30th in the league in points per game, and 23rd in assists per game. Yes, it is true that Chicago management should not be thinking about adding any players that make them win more games. But the main concern for the franchise right now should be maximizing the play of Markkanen. With the group of point guards on the roster, it is surprising that he is able to score 15.6 points per game. The Bulls can get Bledsoe by agreeing to take on the contract of (former Bull) Tyson Chandler. For the trade to work, the Suns would have to agree to take back Robin Lopez, who they drafted with the 15th pick in 2008. Lopez would be a positive presence for a franchise in need of a more fun, loose atmosphere in the locker room (on top of whole heap of other stuff).
Phoenix wants young players, but no one in the league is budging. Milwaukee isn’t looking to deal reigning Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, and Denver is the most likely destination with their wealth of young talent, but they are unlikely to give up Jamal Murray (the best shooter of the bunch).
Let’s say Chicago kicks the tires on Bledsoe. Phoenix agrees that former №5 overall pick Kris Dunn would be the best perimeter defender in their backcourt, and perhaps a perfect fit with knockdown shooter Devin Booker. But obviously, his disastrous shooting means he isn’t enough. Here is what the Bulls hypothetical counter offer would look like:
Phoenix gets rid of Tyson Chandler’s contract and get rid of Bledsoe, but the loss is they take back the contract of Lopez. But again, Lopez’s positive presence would great for the young group. Denzel Valentine would easily slide in as the Suns backup 2-guard. He is shooting 39.6 percent from 3-point range this year on just under 6 attempts per game.
Bobby Portis is sent out of Chicago in this deal as well, helping clear another one of the Bulls’ distractions. He is still a talented front-court player who plays hard every night. He looked great in Chicago’s playoff series against Boston, where he scored 6.7 points and grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the 3-point line. His defense was decent in all six games of the series as well. The Suns could go small with a Portis-Marquese Chriss front court pairing that could stretch the floor, or simply use Portis with Dragan Bender off the bench.
Bledsoe would most likely look at the Bulls as an audition for his next contract. He has one more year left on his deal after this current season. When motivated he can play great defense, but in Chicago he would be looking to be aggressive in showcasing his scoring ability. But he is an awesome pick-and-roll ball handler. Through the 3 games he played this season, Bledsoe was in the 95th percentile as a pick-and-roll player. He scores 1.26 points per possession, and went to the pick-and-roll 41.1 percent of the time (per NBA.com). He would build a rapport with Markkanen, and you would see both of their scoring numbers increase as defenses are forced to collapse on Bledsoe drives or give him (33.4 percent for his career from 3-point range) the jumper, which he has done a decent job of knocking down when needed.
The final piece in getting this deal done would be additional compensation for the Suns for having to take the contract of Robin Lopez. I would say the Bulls are smart enough to not give up this year’s — obviously — valuable draft pick. But a second round pick, and a 2019 or 2020 first round draft pick with some protections placed on it could do it.
Chicago needs to keep working on collecting young assets, but that doesn’t mean they can’t address a major issue. You can not get decimated by 30 points every night and expect to build a winning culture. And point guard is a position in today’s league that absolutely cannot be filled be a replacement-level player. A change of scenery will be great for Eric Bledsoe. And playing in a big-market with a fan base starved for a player to call the team’s “star” would be a great look for Bledose. On top of all that, there are absolutely no expectations for this Bulls team to win, so no pressure on him on that front.
The last time Eric Bledsoe played for a team that wasn’t the Phoenix Suns, he posted a stat line of 14.9 points, 5.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks (!!), and 2.5 steals per 36 minutes. He is now 28-years old, but still a strong guard capable of doing a little bit of everything, and it’s been to long since he’s been in a situation where he is happy. Chicago has a chance to buy-low on a good player, and hand him the reigns on offense. After years of being the team getting the worse end of deals, it would be nice for Chicago to make a risk-free move that could have a big payoff down the line.
