Kempton: Knicks president Phil Jackson not ‘smart enough’ to pull trigger on Eric Bledsoe trade
Jun 23, 2015, 11:41 AM | Updated: 11:41 am
According to reports, the Suns are “dangling” star point guard Eric Bledsoe, with one of the main teams coming up being the New York Knicks and their No. 4 overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
The Knicks, rumored to be interested in Wisconsin forward Frank Kaminsky, would move back the Suns’ No. 13 spot in the rumored deal.
Is this a smart move? Suns analyst Tim Kempton thinks if the Suns do make a trade, it will likely have to involve the point guard.
Kempton told Doug & Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that it’s natural for Bledsoe to come up in Suns trade discussions, as he is clearly the team’s best player.
“If people are calling and talking about trades with you, they want a good player,” Kempton said. “Right now, Eric Bledsoe is the Suns’ best player. He’s shown that in the last year and a half playing…it probably comes down to Eric Bledsoe. Alex Len is a bit of an unknown commodity in the NBA. Unfortunately Markieff Morris has a bit of a maturity issue that reared its ugly head this summer.”
Bledsoe averaged 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game in 34.6 minutes per game for Phoenix in 2014-15. After battling injuries in 2013-14, Bledsoe played in all but one game last year.
Kempton said Phoenix’s best odds at a trade come through Bledsoe.
“If you say Gerald Green and a draft pick, someone might laugh at you,” he said.
Kempton said he likes the rumored deal for both sides, but doesn’t have faith in former Bulls and Lakers coach and current Knicks president Phil Jackson to pull the trigger.
“I’m not buying because I don’t think (Jackson) is smart enough to do it,” Kempton said. “He hasn’t shown that he has the capability as a general manager or a president of basketball operations to be that smart about it.
“He coached good players (in Los Angeles and Chicago) but has no idea how to get good players and keeps giving his good players away.”
If the Suns trade for the No. 4 overall pick, the prospects expected to be targeted would be guard Emmanuel Mudiay, guard D’Angelo Russell, forward Kristaps Porzingis and forward Justice Winslow.
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