It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and the NBA trade winds are already picking up. The Phoenix Suns have possibly the biggest trade chip on the market after Suns GM Ryan McDonough sent Eric Bledsoe home after Bledsoe tweeted “I don’t wanna be here”.
The Suns have yet to find a deal to their liking, as it’s very hard to get good value for a player that a) you aren’t playing b) has made it clear to the world that they no longer want to play for your team. So the Suns are forced to play the waiting game until either they decide to cut their losses or someone gets desperate and gives up a better package for Bledsoe.
It appears a new potential trade partner has entered the fray for Bledsoe’s services as The New York Times‘ Marc Stein tweeted out on Thursday that the Detroit Pistons have interest in Bledsoe. Stein expounds that whatever deal that Detroit would make would involve point guard Reggie Jackson.
League sources say Detroit should be added to the list of teams showing interest in Eric Bledsoe, but any deal would surely depend (CONT')
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 2, 2017
But any Bledsoe-to-Detroit deal would likely depend on what the Pistons would attach to Reggie Jackson to sell the Suns on doing such a swap
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 2, 2017
Jackson, has been no stranger to trade rumors in his stint in Detroit, having been rumored to be in a number of trade discussions since inking a five year, $80-million dollar deal in 2015. The Pistons guard struggled last season with his lowest FG% since his rookie season, while only playing 52 games, and at times Detroit’s offense looked better with Ish Smith at the point. This season, Jackson has returned to better form and Detroit might be looking to cash in early on that success.
It will be very interesting to see if trade talks get more serious what players or picks Detroit is willing to throw into a deal with Jackson. Moreover, it stands to wonder if Jackson does switch zip codes how much longer would he want to be in Phoenix or if the Suns want to bring in another veteran point guard presence that could get disgruntled on their timeline for success.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Phoenix would hope a third team would enter into discussions with Detroit to take Jackson.
The Suns prefer a third team to take on Reggie Jackson in any potential Eric Bledsoe deal with the Pistons, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 2, 2017
The Suns have made it clear they want young players or assets for Bledsoe, and maybe a third team would be willing to part with something more palatable to Phoenix for Jackson rather than Bledsoe. It seems unlikely given the contract, but anything is possible.
