Eric Bledsoe rumors: Phoenix Suns would match Milwaukee Bucks' offer sheet

The Phoenix Suns have already had a busy offseason, completing a sign-and-trade to acquire point guard Isaiah Thomas (and his new four-year, $27 million contract) from the Sacramento Kings and finalized a deal with free agent big man Anthony Tolliver on Monday.

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However, their biggest question – the future of restricted free agent point guard Eric Bledsoe – is still up in the air. Bledsoe is reportedly looking for a max deal – five years and $80 million, but the Suns are offering a four-year, $48 million deal. That could lead Bledsoe to sign an offer sheet with another team and dare the Suns to match. One team that has been consistently connected to Bledsoe are the Milwaukee Bucks.

However, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders believes the Suns would match an offer sheet if Bledsoe decided to sign one with the Bucks.

"The Milwaukee Bucks technically don’t have cap space by virtue of the $11.173 million cap hold they carry on free agent Ekpe Udoh. If they were to renounce it, they could open up roughly $10.3 million in space. The Bucks are believed to be one of the suitors for Phoenix’s Eric Bledsoe, but landing him would require a sign-and-trade as it’s likely Phoenix would gladly match a $10 million offer sheet. Because the Bucks are still technically over the cap, they still retain their cap exceptions."

The Bucks and Suns would have to complete a sign-and-trade to send Bledsoe to the Bucks, but that seems unlikely.

Bledsoe averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 47.7% from the field, 35.7% from beyond the arc and 77.2% from the free throw line last season.

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Eric Bledsoe rumors: Phoenix Suns would match Milwaukee Bucks’ offer sheet

By Andrew Melnick | Jul 21, 2014