NBA Free Agents 2014 Rumors: Eric Bledsoe Seen Dining With Erik Spoelstra; Heat Interested in Guard?
The Miami Heat has been very active on the free agency market and reports revealed that the team is interested in acquiring free agent point guard Eric Bledsoe.
The Heat is reportedly planning to make a run at signing Bledsoe, and the team's interest was confirmed by a photo showing the unrestricted free agent dining with Miami coach Erik Spoelstra.
However, the Phoenix Suns still have the upper hand in the race to sign Bledsoe, who averaged 17.7 points to go along with 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last season.
The 24-year-old point guard could sign an offer sheet with the Heat or any other team, but the Suns has the right to match any offer. Phoenix made it clear that retaining Bledsoe is their top priority this summer.
The Heat is in an unlikely situation because they need to offer a lucrative deal that could make the Suns think twice -- whether to match the offer sheet or not -- similar to what happened with former Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons.
Parsons, who was also an unrestricted free agent this summer, signed a three-year, $46 million offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks, and the Rockets decided not to match, thinking that the deal would hurt their cap flexibility in the long run.
The Heat is not in a good position to offer a lucrative deal to Bledsoe since they have already locked up Chris Bosh into a maximum deal, while also signing Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts, Danny Granger, Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers.
The Heat are still hoping, though, that the Suns will let go of Bledsoe after acquiring emerging point guard Isaiah Thomas, but FanSided noted that it is highly unlikely because Phoenix have enough cap space. They are expected to match any offer to Bledsoe, and will most likely use him as a trade chip.
"With Isaiah Thomas under contract, many have grown weary that Phoenix won't match a Bledsoe deal, but considering they've an ample amount of cap space and Bledsoe could become a huge trade asset, the odds of Phoenix not matching are slim to none," FanSided noted.
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