Eric Bledsoe News: Will He Be Taken In By The Atlanta Hawks?

Eric Bledsoe, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketballinsiders.com, will likely sign a one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. He will likely take the one-year deal worth $3.7 million, less than the 4-year, $48 million offer originally set with the Phoenix Suns, but which will allow him to become an unrestricted free agent next year. "Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns remain far apart in contract talks, according to sources close to the situation," says Chris Broussard of ESPN. With news that Phoenix and Bledsoe not being on the same page in contract negotiations, rumors have it that some of the other 29 NBA teams may try poaching the 24-year-old star point guard away from the Suns. Among the teams mentioned in the rumors are the Los Angeles Lakers, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Houston Rockets, and the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks have around $12.7 million in cap space and can give Bledsoe's agent an offer sheet according to Sam Vecenie of Upside&Motor. "The Hawks could conceivably offer Dennis Schroeder, Adreian Payne, and a first rounder for Bledsoe," he said, "sign him to some contract above what the Suns have offered him, and become a contender that hasn't quite reached its ceiling in the East." Vecenie writes that a line-up of Bledsoe along with Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford may probably be "the third-best possible lineup in the Eastern Conference."

According to Ben Leibowitz at Bleacher Report, "If the Hawks put a huge offer on the table, Bledsoe would gain the upper hand in negotiations. He could ask Phoenix not to match the deal, as [Joe] Johnson did [in 2005], and force a sign-and-trade." Getting Bledsoe, who averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 47.7% from the field, 35.7% from beyond the arc and 77.2% from the free throw line last season, may be what Atlanta need to become a contender in the Eastern Conference.

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