An open letter to Eric Bledsoe
Aug 1, 2014, 12:24 AM | Updated: 12:24 am
OK, enough is enough. Time to get real here.
Memo to Eric Bledsoe — you need new representation. This Rich Paul is a joke and he is steering you down a slippery slope. I’m sure he told you everything you wanted to hear at the end of the season. I’m sure he told you that teams would be lining up to make you an offer and that a max contract of $80 million was well within reach. And when those things didn’t happen, he blamed the Phoenix Suns. The organization that believed in you, traded for you and gave you an opportunity that you weren’t getting backing up Chris Paul in Los Angeles.
Ask around, Eric. Talk to players in the league, teammates, former teammates, coaches and assistant coaches that aren’t based in Phoenix. You will be hard-pressed to find ONE that doesn’t believe the offer that Phoenix has on the table for four years and $48 million is an awesome offer. Trust me, I know. Because I have made those phone calls, dozens of them. And everyone that I spoke with thinks you’re borderline nuts for not jumping at this offer and giving yourself financial security for life.
You want to roll the dice and play for the qualifying offer of $3.7 million? Good luck. It’s a huge risk. You have had two knee injuries, you missed half of last season. And you may not be able to make back the money you are leaving on the table for this season.
Look, your agent doesn’t have a lot of experience, he’s a relative newbie riding the coattails of his buddy LeBron James. He doesn’t have many clients. He very well may be in over his head on these negotiations. From all I hear, he is a very nice guy but he hasn’t done anything in this business. And now he is making YOU look bad. First you say you are letting your agent handle it, but in the same sentence say the Suns are using restricted free agency against you. WHAT?
For the last 30 days, any team in the NBA had the chance to sign you to an offer sheet and not one team did. They are not scared off by the Suns’ remarks of telling the world they will match any offer, which is perfectly within their right. They are scared of giving a good player such as yourself money reserved for superstars. Yes, that is why you don’t have an offer. No one thinks you are a max player. Now don’t get me wrong, you are a very good player and any team would be happy to have you. Just not at the money you think you are worth.
So your agent overvalued you. It happens. You are not the first and you won’t be the last to think you are worth more than you really are. You should have gotten better advice, more realistic advice.
But back to your agent making you look bad. Now some puppet writer from Comcast named Chris Haynes writes an article so slanted toward your side that you would believe that your agent wrote it himself. An article that talks about your relationship with the Suns being ruined and close to irreparable and the Suns undermining your value and how you are angered. Wow, did your agent pay this clown to write this or just pay him to print it? I mean he can’t honestly believe what he is writing.
So let’s do this. Let’s repair this relationship with the Suns that your side believes is in shambles.
Fire your agent. Get some real representation. Start over.
