Phoenix Suns general manager Ryan McDonough has started to question the leadership of prized point guard Eric Bledsoe, who reportedly requested a trade dating back to last season, wanting out of the rebuilding process for good.
McDonough sent Bledsoe home on Monday after meeting with him and believes he's played his last game in the uniform. The 27-year-old had tweeted “I don't wanna be here” on a Sunday afternoon, after withstanding two 40-plus-point losses to start the regular season.
“I was certainly surprised by it and disappointed by it,” McDonough said of the tweet, according to ESPN's Chris Haynes. “I think Eric’s a good person. I think he’s unfortunately gotten some bad advice and is listening to the wrong people.”
“I think generally, any time you sign a contract, it doesn’t only work one way. It works both ways, and for a guy with years on his contract to say or intimate he didn’t want to be here anymore, I didn’t find that to be appropriate, and I think if he says he wants to be a leader, that’s the opposite of what a leader does and the opposite of what leadership is. So I think that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
McDonough has questioned his association with agent Rich Paul, the same agent that works for LeBron James and Ben Simmons.
Bledsoe met with owner Robert Sarver during the preseason, requesting a trade and noting he was unhappy with the direction of the team, the lack of aggressiveness in free agency, and questionable moves during the season (including shutting him and other vets down for the season despite a clean bill of health and in the midst of a career-year).
The Alabama product was then told by management that the team had underperformed ever since he was given starting point guard responsibilities, according to Haynes.
“I think, just my opinion, the shift comes from contractual demands made by his representatives,” McDonough said of Bledsoe's desire to move on, “and that’s what I was referring to when I said I think he got bad advice.”
“If you can imagine, my phone was ringing a lot yesterday,” McDonough said on Tuesday. “The ideal time to get a deal done is whenever the best offer presents itself. So we’d be fine doing it sooner rather than later. At the same time, he’s under contract for this year plus next year. We sent him away from the team to eliminate that distraction. So we’re willing to do a deal, we’re open to do a deal whenever the best offer presents itself.”
The front office has opened its doors to this trade quite publicly, but they have lost plenty of traction by sending him away and by his discontent with the franchise being made so public with his tweet.
There are plenty of suitors for Bledsoe, but the Suns will avidly look for young players — a request not many teams might be willing to honor, given the precarious circumstances.
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