Suns deal Eric Bledsoe to Bucks for Monroe, 2 picks
Eric Bledsoe will get a fresh start in Milwaukee. The Phoenix Suns get a chance to speed up their rebuilding project.
The Suns traded their disgruntled guard to the Bucks for big man Greg Monroe and two 2018 draft picks on Tuesday, hours before Milwaukee played in Cleveland.
The 27-year-old Bledsoe had not been with the Suns since Oct. 22 when he posted “I Don’t wanna be here” on Twitter, the same day the Suns fired coach Earl Watson. He had been averaging 15.7 points per game, second behind Devin Booker, and was the team’s on-court leader.
He was sent home by the Suns after the tweet, reducing the team’s leverage because everyone in the league knew Phoenix was trying to trade him. Bledsoe had asked to be traded before the season, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough has said. The NBA fined the eight-year NBA veteran $10,000 for the tweet.
Adding Bledsoe will take some of the focus off of do-it-all All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is the Bucks’ primary ball-handler. Milwaukee had lost four of its last five games before visiting the Cavaliers, but adding Bledsoe’s scoring ability alongside Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton on a team that also includes rising guard Malcolm Brogdon could help.
Bledsoe averaged more than 20.0 points and 6.0 assists per game in each of the last two seasons with the Suns, including career highs in points (21.1) and assists (6.3) per game last season. Bledsoe spent the past five seasons in Phoenix after his first three years with the Clippers.
The 27-year-old Monroe, who joined the team as a free agent in 2015 after five years in Detroit, has been sidelined recently because of a left calf strain. Over three seasons with the Bucks, he averaged 13.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists over 165 games.
Cavaliers guard Thomas making progress
Day by day, dribble by dribble, Isaiah Thomas looks a little more like an All-Star point guard — like himself.
And just maybe like one who can rescue the reeling Cavaliers.
Thomas has been increasing the intensity of his workouts and is making strong progress in his recovery from a serious hip injury that ended his 2016 season in Boston and delayed his debut with Cleveland.
As Cavs coach Tyronn Lue and a member of Cleveland’s medical staff kept an eye on him from an adjacent floor at Cleveland Clinic Courts, Thomas broke a healthy sweat during a workout Monday under the guidance of assistant coach Phil Handy, who fired him passes and praise. Thomas worked on his 3-pointer, man-to-man defense, conditioning, ball handling and free throws as he nears a return that may be coming sooner than imagined.
Although the team has not disclosed any change from its original timetable estimate of the end of December, it’s apparent that Thomas is getting closer.
At 4-6, and lacking a second scorer to complement LeBron James, the Cavs might be tempted to rush Thomas along. But Lue said it’s imperative for the team to stick with its plan so as not to harm the 28-year-old.
“We have to make sure he’s 100 percent,” Lue said Monday as the Cavs regrouped following an embarrassing loss to the Atlanta Hawks. “We have to worry about him as a player and a person. If he’s not right, not healthy, we don’t want to rush him back to set him back even more.”
Once he returns, Thomas is expected to move into the starting lineup, with Derrick Rose coming off the bench and running the Cavs’ second unit. It’s been dreadful starts by the Cavs’ first five that have been at the heart of their early struggles. Thomas could fix that, but until he’s ready, the Cavs have to come out with more energy and a greater sense of urgency.