Lets鈥 face it. The Suns were destined to get pennies to the dollar for Eric Bledsoe once he went public with his desire to be traded. Not that he didn鈥檛 have cause to push for change; he was playing extremely well before the front office shut him down in February in a blatant attempt to tank the remainder of the 2016-2017 season for prime lottery position. On the other hand, his candid 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be here鈥 tweet following yet another loss underscored his petulance, thus depressing his market value. It also didn鈥檛 help that general manager Ryan McDonough saw fit to throw him under the bus even as he was being shopped around.
Which, in a nutshell, was why the Suns could do no better than get 2010 seventh overall pick Greg Monroe and two protected draft assets from the Bucks in exchange for Bledsoe. As much as they wanted prized point guard Malcolm Brogdon, they simply did not have the negotiating leverage to push for their ideal trade. Never mind McDonough鈥檚 contention that 鈥渨e are open to doing a deal whenever the best offer presents itself.鈥 The clock was ticking, and the bait had been damaged enough as to encourage lowballing.
Moving forward, the Suns are now pressed to flip Monroe. The hope is that his expiring contract will extract meaningful looks from potential partners aiming to cut down on payroll. Barring that, they鈥檒l likely move for a buyout, and soon, given their intent to go all out on their youth-infused rebuilding project. From the outside looking in, it seems they got rid of one problem and acquired another. Clearly, they thought of Bledsoe as a tumor that had to be excised pronto.
All told, the Suns got what they needed, as opposed to wanted. Whether Monroe gets to stay, be bought out, or be dealt, they鈥檒l clear cap space at the end of their 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 campaigns and have leeway to shape the roster as they see fit. Unfortunately, they鈥檙e slated to get worse first, a development fans won鈥檛 be happy to see unfold.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
