Eric Bledsoe is mostly attractive for his buyout potential
Bledsoe seemed like a steal when he signed a four-year $70 million extension with the Milwaukee Bucks in March of 2019. But his output has cratered since, making graphs of all his statistics from 2017-18 through 2021-22 look like those of sales of Milli Vanilli records when the truth came out.
- Scoring: 17.8 PPG, 15.9, 14.9, 12.2. 9.9 (down 44%)
- Minutes: 31.5 MPG, 29.1, 27.0, 29.7, 25.2 (down 20%)
- Rebounds: 3.9 RPG, 4.6, 4.6, 3.4, 3.4 (down 13%)
- Assists: 5.1 APG, 5.5, 5.4, 3.8, 4.2 (down (18%)
- Field Goals: 47.6%, 48.4, 47.4, 42.1, 42.1
- 3-point shooting: 34.9%, 32.9, 34.4, 34.1, 31.3
Bledsoe’s tooth brushing and shoe tying times have probably also seen similar declines, as would be expected in a 32-year old who plays with his level of intensity. And despite his defensive prowess – Bledsoe was named to the All-Defensive team twice in the last three seasons – it doesn’t appear he fits into the Blazers plans, long or short term.
The extension he signed two years ago only guarantees him $3.9 next season, and given his diminished production it’s hard to imagine Portland or any other team picking up his full $19.375 million tab. They’ll be able to spread his guarantee over three years, minimizing the salary cap harm moving forward, and the money saved not having to pay Bledsoe or Powell will almost certainly find its way into Simons’ bank account.
There’s an outside shot that Bledsoe will have a chance to prove his worth to the Blazers on the court, and given Chauncey Billups’ infatuation with playing too many guards too many minutes, it would be less than a shock to see him out there gumming up the works for 12-20 minutes a game, but let’s hope he is simply buyout fodder.