Eric Bledsoe [RFA]

[Superbone]

I'm holding out for "giant-LeBron".

[The Bobster]

If we traded Jared Dudley and a second for two inexpensive seasons of Eric Bledsoe and a chance to re-sign him next year I still think we came out ahead in that deal.

[INFORMER]

I think the "insiders" at RealGM are full of hot air. I don't believe any of the "leaked news" they report.

Agreed.

Weird considering he's saying what you've been claiming. .I don't think he knows exactly going on but has the jist of the situation. All in all it doesn't matter much.

It's not weird. I'm not going to hop on RealGM insider believer train just because they report something I want to hear or back up something I believe. That doesn't make them credible. Do you think I'm that hard-pressed to be proven right?

Weeks ago this board was littered with "insider" reports that the Suns were working to get into the Cleveland-Minnesota deal to land Andrew Wiggins, and that the target wasn't Kevin Love. How'd that work out?

It's not going out a limb to "report" the Suns aren't pursuing any Bledsoe deals. But whether that is true or not, I don't buy that any of these insiders are legit.

You're welcome to post what you want, but I would love it if I never heard another RealGM insider report.

[carey]

It's not weird. I'm not going to hop on RealGM insider believer train just because they report something I want to hear or back up something I believe. That doesn't make them credible. Do you think I'm that hard-pressed to be proven right?

Weeks ago this board was littered with "insider" reports that the Suns were working to get into the Cleveland-Minnesota deal to land Andrew Wiggins, and that the target wasn't Kevin Love. How'd that work out?

It's not going out a limb to "report" the Suns aren't pursuing any Bledsoe deals. But whether that is true or not, I don't buy that any of these insiders are legit.

You're welcome to post what you want, but I would love it if I never heard another RealGM insider report.

No, we all know you don't care what anyone else thinks.

Honestly, it sounded like those talks happened and it broke at RealGM way before Twitter beat writers. You should probably just put me on ignore. If I see an interesting rumor I'm going to post it here.

[INFORMER]

No, we all know you don't care what anyone else thinks.

You should probably just put me on ignore.

Don't be melodramatic, carey. That's like nuking your own house just because you see a roach in it.

If I see an interesting rumor I'm going to post it here.

That's a low standard for "interesting." But like I said, you can do what you want.

[iLLmatic]

The insiders at RealGM haven't broke squat since maybe the J-Rich trade, which there is an entirely different front office now from then. Every time they have breaking news it's either already been reported by other media outlets or what they are saying never happens.

[carey]

No, we all know you don't care what anyone else thinks.

You should probably just put me on ignore.

Don't be melodramatic, carey. That's like nuking your own house just because you see a roach in it.

If I see an interesting rumor I'm going to post it here.

That's a low standard for "interesting." But like I said, you can do what you want.

Really? I hope you take a step back and reread this post and see how you come off when you talk to me. It's seriously unpleasant and at this point would rather you ignore me.

[Superbone]

C'mon, guys. This is all unnecessary silly stuff. We're all on the same side. Let's not rag on each other.

[Superbone]

You guys need to be more like Shavlik Randolph whose personality is so magnetic you can't help but give him guaranteed money.

[Shabazz]

The last time Shavlik Randolph's personality came up it was a bloodbath. 3 long-time posters quit the board. Not since INFORMER proclaimed Anthony Davis "Anthony Randolph 2.0" has there been such carnage on .net.

Shavlik has that much power.

[Superbone]

Shavlik is the Chuck Norris of the NBA.

[Wally_West]

C'mon, guys. This is all unnecessary silly stuff. We're all on the same side. Let's not rag on each other.

I blame Eric Bledsoe! He is tearing the phx-suns.net family apart!

[pickle]

to jump in on the discussion a bit late... i'm fairly ambivalent on the bledsoe situation, other than to agree with everyone by saying "i hope this gets resolved soon."

as for whether he gets booed when he comes back into town, should he get moved this off season, my feeling is that he will be. within any larger population, in this case the phoenix suns fan base, there will be differing opinions/perspectives, and each side will have a substantial number of supporters. i am fairly confident that there will be enough angry fans for the arena to be serenaded with boos when bledsoe comes back to town, which is not to say that every fan will react in the same way.

i am okay with how bledsoe managed this situation, but i also understand why people would want to boo him. we are homers for this team and a little bit of (over)enthusiasm is to be expected.

[pickle]

should there be any truth to the minnesota rumor, let me say that i am not all that interested in pekovic... i read somewhere, may have been a kevin love article, that pekovic's "opponent field goal percentage at the rim" is bottom 3 in the league. that's definitely not something i want to see in my starting center. from the little i've watched and the scouting reports, he seems to be a capable rebounder, and a big body, that doesn't do much on offense. at 12 mil a year, we already had a guy like that in marcin gortat.

but it looks like this whole minnesota rumor is nothing but that, a rumor, so i won't lose sleep over who we may potentially get in return.

[Indy]

i am okay with how bledsoe managed this situation, but i also understand why people would want to boo him. we are homers for this team and a little bit of (over)enthusiasm is to be expected.

Thank you for saying it much more concisely than I did.

[Superbone]

should there be any truth to the minnesota rumor, let me say that i am not all that interested in pekovic... i read somewhere, may have been a kevin love article, that pekovic's "opponent field goal percentage at the rim" is bottom 3 in the league. that's definitely not something i want to see in my starting center. from the little i've watched and the scouting reports, he seems to be a capable rebounder, and a big body, that doesn't do much on offense. at 12 mil a year, we already had a guy like that in marcin gortat.

but it looks like this whole minnesota rumor is nothing but that, a rumor, so i won't lose sleep over who we may potentially get in return.

Yeah, I've backed off of Pekovic after reading more about him. He doesn't defend his position very well at all. I just remember he hurt Phoenix pretty well in the past.

[Superbone]

Reggie Jackson monitoring Eric Bledsoe contract negotiations

http://m.newsok.com/oklahoma-city-thund ... 314?page=1

But along comes Bledsoe, who is the closest comparison to Reggie Jackson not just this summer but perhaps throughout the league.

Their production through their respective first three seasons, when both backed up All-Star point guards, is nearly identical. Jackson averaged 1.3 more points. Bledsoe averaged 0.3 more assists. Jackson averaged 0.1 more rebounds. Bledsoe averaged 0.5 more steals. Their field goal percentages were an identical 43.1 percent.

You can be sure Jackson’s camp has crunched those numbers and presented them to the Thunder as a comparison.

The statistical production of the two players was not far apart even last season, when Bledsoe battled injuries but enjoyed much more freedom in his first year with the Suns. Bledsoe averaged only 4.6 more points, 0.2 more rebounds and 0.8 more assists.

If at least one team is willing to reward Bledsoe with an average salary of $15.75 million, Jackson and his team surely must be looking at a deal with at least a $12 million annual salary.

Additionally, the bad news for the Thunder if Bledsoe does indeed migrate from Phoenix to Minnesota is that it wouldn’t eliminate one of the four teams that could make a hard run at Jackson next summer. Dallas, Miami, New York and the Los Angeles Lakers all have a pressing need for a point guard and are projected to have enough cap space in July to aggressively pursue one.

[Superbone]

Paul is at it again:

Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson is seeking upwards of $11 million per season on his next contract, according to the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd. He's eligible for an extension before Oct. 31, and he'll be a restricted free agent next summer.

He will ask for the type of money previously given to Derrick Favors (four years, $49 million) and Larry Sanders (four years, $44 million). What will hurt Thompson's case, however, is the Greg Monroe saga. Monroe, by all accounts a better player than Thompson, was forced to sign a one-year qualifying offer with the Pistons after failing to reach agreement on a long-term contract with anyone this summer. He will now be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

[SwingMan]

Reggie Jackson monitoring Eric Bledsoe contract negotiations

http://m.newsok.com/oklahoma-city-thund ... 314?page=1

But along comes Bledsoe, who is the closest comparison to Reggie Jackson not just this summer but perhaps throughout the league.

Their production through their respective first three seasons, when both backed up All-Star point guards, is nearly identical. Jackson averaged 1.3 more points. Bledsoe averaged 0.3 more assists. Jackson averaged 0.1 more rebounds. Bledsoe averaged 0.5 more steals. Their field goal percentages were an identical 43.1 percent.

You can be sure Jackson’s camp has crunched those numbers and presented them to the Thunder as a comparison.

The statistical production of the two players was not far apart even last season, when Bledsoe battled injuries but enjoyed much more freedom in his first year with the Suns. Bledsoe averaged only 4.6 more points, 0.2 more rebounds and 0.8 more assists.

If at least one team is willing to reward Bledsoe with an average salary of $15.75 million, Jackson and his team surely must be looking at a deal with at least a $12 million annual salary.

Additionally, the bad news for the Thunder if Bledsoe does indeed migrate from Phoenix to Minnesota is that it wouldn’t eliminate one of the four teams that could make a hard run at Jackson next summer. Dallas, Miami, New York and the Los Angeles Lakers all have a pressing need for a point guard and are projected to have enough cap space in July to aggressively pursue one.

Honestly, EVERY pro player, NBA or otherwise, should be monitoring this situation as a lesson of how NOT to "negotiate"/attempt to strong-arm a team.

If Rich Paul hasn't seen his last client, he damn well should.....

(and, from jump street, if there's any questions about my return to posting, please PM me here and keep it off the thread, cool?)

[Cap]

Welcome back.