Is Eric Bledsoe in Play for Cavs?
The Cleveland Cavaliers are one busy team but could Eric Bledsoe be next? Tristan Thompson is back. Kevin Love is back. LeBron James will be back. Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova are restricted free agents who the Cavs can match all offers to.
However, like we talked about earlier today, the Brendan Haywood contract looms out there large. As noted in that piece, Brian Windhorst stated that the Cavs have multiple options on the table to move Haywood’s contract. Could the Cavs use it to bring in Eric Bledsoe?
According to reports, the Phoenix Suns have signed Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler to big deals today. They are also currently meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge. Unfortunately they don’t have the cap space needed to sign the star power forward:
In order for PHX to get into the Aldridge sweepstakes they will not need to clear considerable cap space. No room right now.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2015
Suns spent all their cap space on Tyson Chandler https://t.co/cYiqIRoZH4
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2015
LMA’s contract will likely start around 18 million dollars, give or take, but the Suns currently do not have any cap space to sign him.
That is where Haywood and the Cavs come in. The Cavs can assume Bledsoe’s $13 million deal with Haywood’s contract, freeing up a huge amount of space for Aldridge. The Suns will have to make other moves but opening up Bledsoe’s money would be the biggest hurdle.
While the Cavs will have to send back some value to the Suns, they may be one of few teams willing to take on his contract. Most believe the speedy guard is overpaid at $13 and those with cap space are unlikely to want to take on his multi-year deal. The Cavs would have no such concerns.
With the Cavs Bledsoe can play both guard positions, start or come off the bench and contribute greatly to a championship level team. Bledsoe’s $13 million also looks like a lot of money, with the increase in the salary cap, it could be a bargain in the future.
The final piece connecting the Cavs and Bledsoe is his close connection to LeBron James. They have the same agent through Klutch Sports and Bledsoe was working out at the Cavs facilities last off-season while waiting on a contract offer from the Suns. LBJ sent out this Instagram post:
That is a whole lot of connection.
While it is an unlikely scenario, Bledsoe to the Cavs for Haywood’s contract is an interesting one indeed.
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