Eric Bledsoe rumors: Bledsoe signing for less than the max is a win for Phoenix Suns

Although he may be the best player left on the market, Phoenix Suns’ guard Eric Bledsoe isn’t drawing the type of interest he thought he would. Teams were under the impression the Suns would match any offer sheet Bledsoe signed (and they likely would) and they did not want to tie up large sums of money in Bledsoe for three days only to see other quality players sign elsewhere.

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The Suns are reportedly offering Bledsoe a four-year, $48 million deal while he is seeking a max deal which would be worth about $80 million over five years. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors believes re-signing Bledsoe for less than the max is a win for the Suns.

"I’ve thought all along that the Suns would match offers for Bledsoe, as they’ve maintained. And that’s the rub, I think. No team wants to make a max offer for Bledsoe because they’re confident Phoenix would match. And Phoenix doesn’t want to make a max offer until it has to. Thus the standoff. I think Bledsoe will just end up re-signing with the Suns for less than the max, which will be a win for Phoenix. It shows a flaw in restricted free agency: lesser guys like Hayward and Parsons get max or near-max offers because teams legitimately feel their original clubs won’t match. Guys like Bledsoe don’t because teams are confident the Suns would."

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. In his career, he’s put up 8.7 points, 3.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 44.5% from the field, 32.7% from three and 75.9% from the free throw line.

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