Eric Bledsoe does not fit Los Angeles Lakers financial plan

For much of the NBA’s offseason, there have been rumors suggesting that the Los Angeles Lakers would like to acquire Phoenix Suns restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe.

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With Bledsoe’s continued struggles to find middle ground on a contract with the Suns, rumors of Los Angeles’ interest has only grown. But according to Larry Coon of Basketball Insiders, Eric Bledsoe doesn’t fit into the Los Angeles Lakers financial plans.

Back in 2010 when LeBron James signed with the Miami Heat, the Lakers hatched a plan making sure they’d have plenty of available cap space come the current 2014 offseason. It worked out in one sense as the team did have plenty of available funds, but they couldn’t lure any All-Star talent to Southern California.

Now the Lakers are said to be hatching another similar plan, though, for 2015 and 2016 as they don’t want any major money on the books. That’s why Coon suggests that Eric Bledsoe would not fit with the Lakers,

"The Lakers want to preserve cap space for 2015 and 2016, and in general, restricted free agents end up being overpaid (because a team has to overpay to shake him loose from his previous team — if it’s a reasonable offer, the team simply matches). There’s some attractiveness to the idea of Bledsoe, but he really doesn’t fit into their long-term financial plans."

Some might suggest that a trade wouldn’t add any additional salary to the Lakers cap figure and while that technically would be true, Bledsoe would be signed longer than the outgoing players resulting in less cap space for the Lakers come ’15 and ’16.

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