Despite lots of interest, Suns’ options are restricted trading Eric Bledsoe

The Phoenix Suns shouldn’t have a problem trading one of the NBA’s better point guards on a good contract, but they are.

If that wasn’t the case, Eric Bledsoe would have been gone before hair salons became a topic of conversation surrounding him and his team, perhaps after his first or second meeting with the team regarding his request for a trade.

It’s the reality of trying to trade a great player less than five games into the season, even with several teams reportedly interested.

Bledsoe, 27, has two years left on his five-year, $70 million contract, making him a rental of sorts, but a very good one at that.

In the past year, more options have opened up across the league when it comes to ideal trade partners.

The Denver Nuggets are ready to push for 50 wins with the addition of Paul Millsap, but have 20-year-old Jamal Murray and 21-year-old Emmanuel Mudiay at point guard.

The Los Angeles Clippers just had starting guard Milos Teodosic go down with a plantar fascia injury and he will be out indefinitely.

Teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, New Orleans Pelicans and Cleveland Cavaliers also don’t have as cozy of a fit, but have a spot in their starting backcourt waiting for Bledsoe if they were to acquire him.

The trouble, as I’m sure it has been for general manager Ryan McDonough since Bledsoe said he wanted out, is figuring out how to get optimal value along with the right structure for a deal.

There’s also the question of how the Suns want to go about trading Bledsoe.

As The Athletic’s Danny Leroux noted, what does McDonough prioritize in the deal?

Suns are in a rare situation where all three could be of interest. Always sliding scale but their preference likely dictates what they take

— Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) October 23, 2017

The challenge is finding deals that could be a mix of those interests together, as well as players who won’t potentially block the playing time of youngsters the Suns want to play, like Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss and Josh Jackson.

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton suggested three deals that include some of the aforementioned teams.

Mudiay and Kenneth Faried from Denver for Bledsoe gets Phoenix a potential point guard of the future, but that all depends on how the Suns feel about the former No. 7 overall pick in 2015, who has been a big disappointment at the start of his NBA career.

A trade with the Magic for D.J. Augustin, Mario Hezonja and Elfrid Payton allows the Suns to take two flyers on Hezonja and Payton, who are also former lottery picks that have struggled to start their NBA careers.

Getting Bledsoe to play with his buddy LeBron James in Cleveland could have Iman Shumpert, Ante Zizic and a protected first-round pick back to Phoenix. Zizic has an outside chance to become a good starting NBA center, Shumpert would play behind Booker and the pick would be another for McDonough to use in the future.

The problem with trading Bledsoe and other veterans like Tyson Chandler and Jared Dudley is finding the veteran players, or overall players in talent, to put in their place. The Suns can’t roll out an entire roster of players under the age of 25, and that’s where the Suns could potentially look to kill two birds with one stone.

Taking Bledsoe and other assets at their disposal and placing more importance on a player that can help right now is also an option.

The Bucks are reportedly one of the teams interested and are dealing with the problem of how to go about re-signing talented forward Jabari Parker with his two ACL tears in his left knee since being drafted No. 2 overall in 2014. While a straight deal for Parker and Matthew Dellavedova wouldn’t get the job done like CBS Sports’ Matt Moore suggested, but what about a future first-round pick or two?

What about the Pelicans and — yes we are going here again — DeMarcus Cousins? Cousins expires a year earlier than Bledsoe, and New Orleans could bail on the Cousins-Anthony Davis experiment while picking up a very good guard and an extra pick or two.

None of the options snap nicely into place and look like a clear winner, and that’s why Bledsoe is at home right now instead of playing for a playoff team.

The Suns just fired their head coach three games into the season and it’s unlikely that Bledsoe will play another game for the franchise. That puts them in recovery mode for the rest of this season, and while that’s not good for the product on the court, it allows the Suns to be more patient in dealing Bledsoe.

The situation “is what it is” at this point. Interim coach Jay Triano will run the team the rest of the year. There is no radical change coming to the team that hasn’t come already. Everyone would like the deal and drama surrounding the situation over with as soon as possible, but the Suns also have the option to wait.

They have plenty of suitors for Bledsoe, and that might make waiting a bit, whether it’s an extra day or week, the right course of action for now.

Follow @KellanOlson