Per a report from Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Lakers had previously expressed an interest in Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe.
The start of the NBA offseason is nearly here with the transaction moratorium reportedly being lifted Monday morning.
For the Milwaukee Bucks, the time has arrived for them to generate the answers to the big questions facing them over this compacted offseason. While the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo is on everyone’s minds, what they will do with the Eric Bledsoe is the more pressing matter on their plate.
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Per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Lakers had expressed interest in Bledsoe before they reportedly made a deal for veteran Oklahoam City Thunder guard Dennis Schröder as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
There is obviously a big difference in Bledsoe and Schröder as far as the financials are considered.
The German international is on an expiring $15.5 million salary while Bledsoe is under contract until the end of the 2022-23 season, though the final year of his deal is only guaranteed for $3.9 million.
Also working against Bledsoe is the fact that his salary increases year over year, thus making the appetite to take on the Kentucky product that much harder for opposing teams around the league.
Plenty of trade speculation has surrounded Eric Bledsoe and the Milwaukee Bucks and his days could be numbered with the franchise.
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reported late last week that the Bucks have been active in the trade market and that they have unsurprisingly been shopping Bledsoe around the league:
"“Multiple league sources say the Bucks are active in trade discussions; they’re looking to move on from Eric Bledsoe, and have offered him to several teams.”"
O’Connor followed that up by relaying that the Bucks were in negotiations for Schröder before the Lakers swooped in to land him in their deal.
Sources: The Bucks pursued a trade with the Thunder for Dennis Schroder and were deep in trade negotiations last week. Ultimately, the Lakers landed Schroder. Now the Bucks must move on to other targets. Eric Bledsoe remains the player Milwaukee is dangling most in trade talks.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) November 15, 2020
That only reinforces the line of thinking that has hung over the Bucks and Bledsoe, especially after his latest run with playoff disappointment last season. Between that and the structure of his contract, specifically with his yearly salary raises, only adds to the hurdles facing Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst as he looks to unload the 30-year-old Bledsoe.
The question now becomes what lengths the Bucks will go in being able to deal away Bledsoe. they have obviously have the 24th overall pick in this draft, but is attaching that to Bledsoe’s deal enough to get a trade over the line with the Bucks getting something meaningful in return?
We may soon have an answer on that front, but there’s no shortage of questions facing the Bucks at the moment. And all Bucks fans will be paying attention to what they can do to improve their roster going into a massive 2020-21 campaign.