Report: Phoenix Suns, Bledsoe may be close to reaching agreement
Sep 24, 2014, 4:20 AM | Updated: 4:38 am
After a multi-month standoff, a new report says the Phoenix Suns and restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe may finally be close to working out a contract that would keep the point guard in the Valley.
Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday that the Suns have increased their offer from their four-year, $48 million proposal that Bledsoe rejected in July.
Wojnarowski said the Suns’ new offer is “into the $50 million range.”
Suns general manager Ryan McDonough and Bledsoe’s representatives with Klutch Sports have gathered momentum in discussions over the past two to three days, and Wednesday is expected to be crucial in the push for the sides to finalize a deal, league sources said.
In his first year with the Suns following a 2013 offseason trade from the Los Angeles Clippers, Bledsoe averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 assists in 43 games.
Bledsoe and agent Rich Paul have been seeking a maximum contract from an NBA team, but those efforts may have been hampered by concerns about a knee injury that caused Bledsoe to miss nearly half of the 2013-14 season.
Last month, Wojnarowski told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that Bledsoe and Paul “boxed themselves into a corner” by rejecting the Suns’ $48 million offer but being unable to secure a better deal from another team.
