Milwaukee Bucks: Examining Eric Bledsoe’s potential fit

The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly interested in trading for the Phoenix Suns’ Eric Bledsoe, but how would he fit if a deal was to be completed?

A strong 3-1 start to the season, and an MVP level week from Giannis Antetokounmpo would have been enough for the Milwaukee Bucks to hit the headlines, but trade rumors also have the Bucks in the news in the season’s opening days.

As Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe prepares to move on following days of significant change within the franchise, the Bucks are one of a number of franchises who have been reported as having significant interest in making a deal.

The Bucks have plenty of assets meaning that if they really want to, it would seem almost certain they could come to terms on a deal for Bledsoe. As a result, the questions are less focused on if a deal could happen, and more about how things would look if the Bucks decided they wanted to make it happen.

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With plenty of positive momentum already, any changes and new additions represent a real risk for an up and coming Bucks team.

Considering all of that, is Bledsoe the right kind of player for Jon Horst, Jason Kidd and Co. to bring in to ensure that the Bucks continue their current upward trend?

In an attempt to answer that question, let’s take a deep dive into various facets of Eric Bledsoe’s game, helping you to not only get to know him better as a player, but also to imagine exactly how he’d fit in as a Buck.

Offense

Bledsoe offers an incredibly dynamic offensive output, whether as a lead or a secondary guard. You could argue that Bledsoe isn’t the league’s best offensive guard in any one category, but it’s the way that he can do so many things very well that really makes him appealing.

Dave King of SB Nation’s Bright Side of the Sun captured the complete nature of Bledsoe’s offense in a piece written shortly after the Suns shut the guard down to aid their lottery odds at the end of last season.

"“Before being shut down for the season, he posted career highs this season in points (21.1), assists (6.3), three-pointers (1.6), free throws (5.9) and free throw attempts per game (6.9), plus the second-best rebound average (4.8) and a career-low in turnover rate (15.3%) since he’s become a starter. Think those numbers are pretty good? How about this: Only THREE players have put up better than Bledsoe’s combo of points/assists/rebounds/free throws in the past FIVE seasons: LeBron James. James Harden. Russell Westbrook.”"

Bledsoe’s career to date has rarely seen him function as a lead guard. Instead, he’s spent a lot of time playing alongside the likes of Chris Paul, Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas and Brandon Knight. That in part is due to his instincts erring more toward scoring than passing, but it’s also a reflection of how Bledsoe can be best utilized in a freer role rather than being left with the responsibility of conventionally running the offense.

Bledsoe’s greatest strength is probably his ability to get deep into the paint and finish. Due to a combination of strength, speed and athleticism that isn’t exactly universal among the NBA’s guards, Bledsoe can work his way inside to then finish right at the basket or turn to a trusty floater either.

Bledsoe’s playing style is incredibly aggressive and as a result, turnovers come as a byproduct of his game. While his giveaways are easily accepted in exchange for the positives he brings to the table, his shooting is probably the more troublesome of the deficiencies in his game.

To be clear, Bledsoe is not a bad shooter, but he has yet to demonstrate that he can efficiently knock down three-pointers at a consistent level. As a career 33 percent three-point shooter, Bledsoe would certainly be best suited to an offense with an abundance of floor-spacing.

Considering how all of that would translate to Milwaukee, Bledsoe’s shooting would certainly be troublesome. Sharing the court with Giannis Antetokounmpo would mean that the Bucks would only have room for three high level shooters on the floor together with that duo, which is far from ideal in today’s NBA.

Saying that, it’s possible that with higher caliber teammates around him, and more time and space to operate, Bledsoe could become an improved shooter with the Bucks.

On the positive side of the ledger, Bledsoe could give the Bucks exactly the kind of dynamic scoring punch they’re currently lacking. With Jabari Parker out injured, Milwaukee’s scoring outside of Giannis is unpredictable at best. Bledsoe would remedy that, while also adding another extremely capable playmaker into the mix.

Defense

Bledsoe’s size, aggression, competitive nature and wider range of defensive assets mean that he has all of the tools required to be a lockdown defender.

Still, that somehow hasn’t translated up until this point. In an in-depth breakdown of Bledsoe’s overall game late last season, ESPN’s Zach Lowe explained exactly how good Bledsoe could and should be, and posited a theory as to why he can’t be that player consistently.

"“He should be the best point guard defender in the league, but he isn’t. That has made him a strangely polarizing player among rival executives, including some with teams who would make good Bledsoe trade fits. A Bledsoe who pounds the ball and takes possessions off on defense is of limited interest. A Bledsoe who thrives as the second- or third-best player in a motion-style offense and smothers opposing point guards — that’s the guy people want to see.”"

Much like so much of what has to be considered with a player who hasn’t made a playoff team since 2013, it’s hard to divide up exactly what falls on the former Kentucky Wildcat, and what can otherwise be attributed to his teammates.

It would make sense if having to take up a burdensome offensive load in recent years had left Bledsoe with less energy to apply defensively, or if his individual metrics were being skewed by those he was playing with. You could even argue that it would be unsurprising if Bledsoe was guilty of occasionally lacking the drive to turn it up defensively when playing on teams destined for the lottery year in and year out.

What will come to light when Bledsoe does leave Phoenix is whether any of the bad habits he’s developed will be hard to shake in a new environment.

Bledsoe will certainly contribute with base level defensive counting stats in the box score, as a player who averages 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game for his career. In fact, Bledsoe is one of the league’s best shot-blocking point guards, averaging 0.7 blocks per game as recently as last year too.

For the Bucks, the defense is always a major adjustment for any new addition who comes in, and Bledsoe would likely find it no different. Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee were two of the most vocal players in recent years when it came to the challenges of adjusting to Milwaukee’s defense, and both of those players had arrived from Phoenix in the Brandon Knight trade.

Although only 6’1″ in terms of height, Bledsoe does possess a 6’7″ wingspan that should make him a comfortable fit with Jason Kidd’s switch-heavy scheme, and Bledsoe’s speed and athleticism should even go toward making him appear even longer when combined with other lengthy players.

Athleticism

There’s good reason for why Eric Bledsoe was referred to as “Mini-LeBron” for a lot of his early years in the NBA.

Speaking of that nickname while ranking Bledsoe as the NBA’s eighth most athletic player back in 2014, Elizabeth Benson of Dime Magazine noted:

"“Bledsoe has electric speed in the open court and thrilling explosiveness in half-court sets. He has a wingspan of 6-7.5 and an incredible 40-inch max vertical leap, which allows him to throw down ridiculous slams and crushing blocks at any moment of the game. He has often been referred to as a ‘Mini LeBron’ due to his athletic talents. When you compare LeBron’s wingspan of 7-0.25 inches while standing at 6-8 to Bledsoe’s smaller stature, you can truly appreciate the 24-year-old’s ultra-impressive athleticism.”"

Although Bledsoe’s athleticism is peppered into the positive elements of his overall game, one of the most striking ways in which it could benefit the Bucks is in transition.

Bledsoe is one of the league’s few point guards capable of grabbing a defensive rebound on one end and powering off to take it end to end in a matter of seconds as a one man fastbreak. Expanding upon that, it’s difficult to imagine just how much havoc he could wreak if joined by similarly skilled and athletic players.

If Bledsoe was to land in Milwaukee, Giannis and him could get out and run on a nightly basis leaving opponents with no real means to stop them. Depending on who would be included in any potential trade, players like Jabari Parker and Thon Maker could also feature in the Bucks’ transition arsenal.

The Bucks are widely heralded as one of the league’s most athletic teams as it is, with Bledsoe added to the mix they likely wouldn’t have any equal.

Personality

Whether Bledsoe ultimately lands in Milwaukee, New York, Denver or somewhere else, one of the most obvious discussions that’s likely to surface in the aftermath of the deal will focus on the way it was all initiated in the first place.

Bledsoe’s now infamous tweet, widely believed to be related to the Suns, clearly upset the hierarchy in Phoenix.

Bledsoe hasn’t generally had a reputation as being a troublemaker of any sort, though, and the way in which things have soured in Phoenix likely reflects less on him than it would initially appear.

In recent years, the Suns have also experienced very public fall-outs with amicable and hard-working point guards, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, before they were traded, and this just seems like the latest chapter in an era of dysfunction for Phoenix.

Bledsoe is known to be a hard-worker, and has had to make changes to how he approaches his game over the years. That aforementioned Zach Lowe piece also detailed how after a slow and gradual process, the once quiet Bledsoe has now become the kind of vocal presence a point guard needs to be. Robert Pack, now an assistant in New Orleans, who previously worked with Bledsoe at the Clippers remarked to Lowe:

"“It’s crazy to hear all the yapping he’s doing out there now.”"

After years of losing, more than anything it seems as if Bledsoe will want to win in whatever situation he lands in next. That element should be overlooked as there’s a good chance that some of his issues with focus, motivation or consistency that have been present in his past, could be significantly improved upon by landing in the right situation with better teammates.

Bledsoe isn’t a perfect fit for the Bucks by any means, but he offers a lot of what their team is currently missing. Most importantly of all, he’s available. The Bucks could always wait things out and upgrade a couple of years from now when they’re closer to the NBA’s summit, but the opportunity to do so may not present itself quite as easily at their chosen time.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks: Assessing potential Eric Bledsoe trade pieces

Whether the Bucks can or even want to land him to begin with is a different story, and considering just how things have played out in Phoenix, it’s likely a storyline that will be resolved very quickly too.