NBA News Wire
Report: Suns not interested in dealing Bledsoe to Wolves
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The Phoenix Suns have no interest in signing-and-trading restricted free-agent point guard Eric Bledsoe to the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Yahoo Sports.
It was reported Friday that the Timberwolves were pursuing Bledsoe in the final days before the start of NBA training camps.
According to ESPN.com, the Timberwolves were interested in working out a sign-and-trade with the Phoenix Suns after contract talks with Phoenix stalled. The Suns had offered Bledsoe a four-year, $48 million deal in July. Bledsoe is seeking a maximum four-year, $63 million contract that the Timberwolves were reported to be willing to pay to land him.
However, the Suns were only interested trading Bledsoe in a deal involving All-Star power forward Kevin Love, who was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers in late July.
The Suns are only interested in trading Bledsoe for an All-Star-caliber player. The Timberwolves were willing to offer Bledsoe a maximum deal, but only if they could get the Suns to take on some undesirable contracts in return, according to Yahoo Sports.
Bledsoe’s name came up in discussions associated with the deal that sent Love to the Cavaliers for No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins, but nothing materialized involving Bledsoe.
If the Suns do not meet Bledsoe’s preseason demands, he plans to sign a one-year, $3.7 million qualifying offer for this season and then become an unrestricted free agent after that.
The Suns added two new point guards during the offseason — signing free-agent Isaiah Thomas to a four-year, $27 million deal in July and selecting Tyler Ennis in the first round of the NBA draft in June.
Bledsoe averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 assists in 43 games for the Suns last season after a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers.
