The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to trade for Eric Bledsoe in a sign and trade deal with the Phoenix Suns adfer the point guard and the team could not come to agreement on a new contract and this comes after the team traded Kevin Love to the Cavaliers for Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett this summer.
Bledsoe is a restricted free agent and he has not been able to come to an agreement with the Suns on a new deal through the summer and it was looking like he would be signing the one year qualifying offer. According to ESPN.com, the Timberwolves are prepared to offer Bledsoe a four-year, $63 million maximum contract and that would be in the range of what he is looking for compared to what the Suns have offered him. The Suns and Bledsoe have been at odds over terms, as Bledsoe reportedly wanted a five year max deal at $80 million, while Phoenix was offering four years and $48 million.
The Timberwolves can only offer four years in their max deal and this would be the second big trade for the team along with the Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins deal. The Wolves feel they have the chance to be a competitive team in the west even without Love and adding Bledsoe would be a big move in that direction. The team added Thaddeus Young after trading Kevin Love and now they have Wiggins, Anthony Bennett as well as Zach LaVine and could be one of the best young teams in the west.
The Suns want to keep Bledsoe but they also covered themselves by signing Isaiah Thomas and drafting Tyler Ennis and they already have Goran Dragic. The team knows that they will have to sign Dragic to an extension or a new deal eventually and while Bledsoe is a great talent, he has had injury issues in each of the past two seasons. Bledsoe and the Suns have had tense negotiations and after signing Thomas to a four year deal, the writing was on the wall a bit.
Bledsoe had a solis season while averaging over 17 points and five assists in 43 games with the Suns and he helped Phoenix turn into an offensive machine with Dragic in the backcourt. The two players expressed interest in continuing to play together, but clearly that may not be in the cards.