Eric Bledsoe still involved in Kyrie Irving trade rumors, ready to win now

The Phoenix Suns want to make a move to acquire All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, but if they do, they’ll have to give up one of their several Wildcats.

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a deal in place with the Suns before the NBA Draft that looked something like this:

Now that Irving is on the trade block officially and publicly, the Suns still have a shot.

According to John Gambadoro, getting a deal done would still involve the former Wildcat.

I’d be shocked if Devin Booker’s name isn’t coming up in these negotiations as well. It’s also worth noting that the Suns have told Josh Jackson he won’t be part of any trades for Irving.

Bledsoe has spent the last four years in Phoenix, becoming arguably their most stable and consistent player night in and night out. Last season he averaged a career-high 21.1 points and 6.3 assists per game. 27-year-old Bledsoe was the shooting guard on a star-studded Kentucky team led by John Wall.

However, Bledsoe was shut down for the final 14 games of the regular season, even though he was healthy enough to play. The Suns were probably trying to tank and let younger guys play at that point, something that Bledsoe wasn’t happy to be part of.

“The front office made a decision and I had to live with it,” Bledsoe told Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic. “I wasn’t OK with it, and I don’t know what basketball player would be. I want to compete. We weren’t winning but I still wanted to play with my teammates. But I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Bledsoe added that he loves everything about Phoenix, but he also wants to win now. He’s not accomplishing that with the Suns. He could certainly do that for at least one season with the Cavaliers and LeBron James.

Should he end up being traded, he’ll be the only former Kentucky Wildcats player on the Cavs, which is an uncommon site for any NBA team these days.

And be sure to go 'like' our Facebook page to get all of the latest Kentucky Wildcats news and analysis.