The Phoenix Suns are shopping an Eric Bledsoe trade to the NY Knicks this offseason ahead of the NBA draft and the teams could consider making a move if New York wants to move down in the first round and if that happens, players like Emmanuel Mudiay, Justise Winslow, Frank Kaminsky, Trey Lyles and Willie Cauley-Stein could be in the mix for the teams.
The Knicks have been open about the possibility of trading down in the first round, as the team has the number four overall pick behind the Timberwolves, Lakers and Sixers. According to Chad Ford at ESPN.com, Phil Jackson will consider making a trade fi Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and D'Angelo Russell are off the board. Based on most reports, those three players are expected to be gone by the time the Knicks pick and that could force the team to seriously think about trading down.
According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, the Suns have "had talks with the Knicks" about a deal with Bledsoe and the number 13 overall pick for the number four overall pick. The report says that the Suns have spoken with other teams about making a trade and if the draft passes without a deal happening, sources "confirmed" that the team is "likely to continue to do so" through the summer. Bledsoe signed a five-year, $70 million contract last year and it looked like he would be the long term guard over Dragic, who was set to be a free agent this summer. The team ended up trading Dragic and Suns general manager Ryan McDonough did not have many nice things to say about that situation on his way out.
Dragic now likely will stay in Miami and could join the Lakers or Knicks if the team doesn't offer him a max deal. Bledsoe comes in after having a string season with 17.0 points, 6.1 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game and he also had over a steal per game. The Knicks could pull off a major move for Bledsoe if they feel there is not enough value for them to take a player at the number four pick. Most scouts see a major drop-off after the top three and names like Justise Winslow, Emmanuel Mudiay and Frank Kaminsky as well as Kristaps Porzingis have been connected to the Knicks.
The Suns made moves with Isaiah Thomas and Goran Dragic this season after things did not work out with the three guards on offense and now it looks like the team also could move on from Bledsoe. Making a move with Bledsoe likely would bring on a full rebuild, but the team has some draft picks to work with, as they received two first rounders from Miami for Dragic. Last year before Bledsoe was signed the Knicks were mentioned as a potential trade destination along with the Lakers and Boston Celtics.
