NBA Rumors: Minnesota Timberwolves Want Eric Bledsoe?

Update: According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Minnesota Timberwolves have offered Eric Bledsoe a four-year, $63 million max deal and are trying to engage the Phoenix Suns in a sign-and-trade.

We’re less than two weeks away from the deadline for Eric Bledsoe to accept the Phoenix Suns’ qualifying offer for the 2014-15 season, but the two sides are still engaged in their staring contest. Phoenix’s star restricted free agent still remains unsigned and he hasn’t even met with the team to re-negotiate. The Suns have offered a four-year, $48 million extension, but Bledsoe’s agent Rich Paul is pushing for a five-year, $80 million max.

S**t, meet the fan you are about to hit.

The Suns promised to match any offer for Bledsoe, so nobody else in the league bit on this promising two-way guard over the summer. But according to ESPN’s Darren Wolfson, the Minnesota Timberwolves could still be interested even with no Kevin Love to offer:

As of right now, it seems inevitable that Bledsoe will play the 2014-15 season with the Suns on a $3.7 million qualifying offer that will severely underpay him, but will also allow him to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. It’s a risk for a guy coming off his second knee surgery in three seasons, but if Bledsoe can stay healthy and continue his success from last year, he’ll be getting plenty of offers in 2015.

Bledsoe’s relationship with the Suns is reportedly irreparable, which is interesting considering he hasn’t sat down with the front office all summer. Still, it’s highly unlikely he’d re-sign with Phoenix next summer with the offers coming in. In other words, Phoenix’s best course of action now is to get their unhappy free agent to agree to a sign-and-trade of some sort so they don’t lose him next summer without compensation. Enter the Timberwolves, and possibly the Milwaukee Bucks.

To be clear, the likelihood of a deal going down the the Wolves seems highly unlikely at this point. Minnesota would love having a player like Bledsoe, especially since he’s proven he can play alongside another point guard in the backcourt — something he’d be doing with Ricky Rubio. But even with all of Minnesota’s young assets, it’s unclear which ones they’d be willing to give up, and which ones the Suns would be willing to take.

In other words, don’t get your Andrew Wiggins hopes up, Suns fans.

General manager Ryan McDonough wants to rebuild for the future, and young players like Zach LaVine, Anthony Bennett or Gorgui Dieng are what he’d want in return. Unfortunately, those are the building blocks Minnesota probably wouldn’t want to part with. The Wolves are currently trying to work out an extension with Rubio, and another complication is Bledsoe would have to agree to a sign-and-trade for it to take place.

As for the Bucks, the fit makes sense for all involved parties (as Grantland’s Andrew Sharp points out), but it’s unclear whether or not Milwaukee is currently interested in Bledsoe. Adding him to the roster would give the Bucks a promising young nucleus of Bledsoe, Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee could afford the kind of mega-deal Bledsoe wants, but it’s unclear if Bledsoe even wants to play in Milwaukee.

As for the Suns, they’d be getting something promising like a John Henson, a Brandon Knight or draft picks in return. They already have a Bledsoe replacement on hand with Isaiah Thomas, and if the front office is convinced Bledsoe will take the qualifying offer and leave next summer anyway, they should explore any and all options to at least get something out of him.

The ideal scenario would be Bledsoe caving and agreeing to the four-year, $48 million offer or something similar before the 2014-15 season starts. A three-guard attack of Goran Dragic, Bledsoe and Thomas would be dynamic and would provide the Suns with a foundation for years to come. But if the Wolves or Bucks are interested in a Bledsoe sign-and-trade, McDonough should certainly take it into consideration for this delicate situation.