Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns had a public falling out in October, however it appears both sides are willing to cooperate on a small level.
First, Eric Bledsoe’s passive aggressive tweet came out, followed by the Phoenix Suns dismissing him from team activities and putting the point guard on the trade block. It appears he would never step foot near the team as one of it’s players ever again. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case according to Shams Charania of The Vertical on Yahoo.
Sources: As potential trade prolongs, Phoenix's Eric Bledsoe planning to return to Suns' facility, work with staff members, early this week.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 5, 2017
Charania clears the initial statement above with a follow up tweet.
There's no plan for Bledsoe to return to team; instead use facility again to stay in game shape and work with staff, sources said. https://t.co/wfGnMozHZz
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 5, 2017
There are several indicators that a Bledsoe trade won’t happen anytime soon. Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Suns want a young player with great skills. In a previous article, I wrote that at this point, it will be hard to for the Suns to get a player at that level based on how low Bledsoe’s trade stock is.
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Then there is the fact that Suns’ general manager Ryan McDonough let it be known that there is no time table to get a deal done, according to Scott Bordow. As I stated in a previous article, that stance sealed the Suns fate of not winning any future Bledsoe trade.
With no trade in sight at the moment, the Suns are helping themselves by having Bledsoe work at the Sun’s facilities. Keeping Bledsoe in shape and continuing to improve with the team’s staff will help increase his trade value more than him not working out with the team. With his trade value possibly improving, other teams may be willing to give up a young talent that the Suns want.
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It’s too soon to see if this move will actually help speed up any future Bledsoe trade, but the Suns didn’t hurt themselves by bringing him in to train. It’s unlikely that he will cause any problems with the young team that has gone 4-2 since he was sent away. This could be the first solid decision the team has made in regards to Bledsoe throughout this whole process.