Rumors

Earl Watson: So Jimmy Butler gets on the block. We're on a road trip. We land. Robert Sarver sends me a text. ‘Come to my house immediately.’ It's like two or three in the morning. I'm not trying to go to nobody house in no two in the morning. I'm trying to go home, right? [laughter] I pull up to the house. It's Sarver. It's Ryan McDonough. And Ryan kind of gave me a look like ‘here we go.’ So I sit down and he goes, "We have a trade." And I go, "What's the trade?" I'm first year head coach. I'm always looking for us to get better. I'm now learning if you don't get better, you are obvious tanking, right? So I go, "What's the trade?" He goes, "We have a trade for Devin Booker. We're going to send Devin to Chicago for Jimmy Butler." In that moment I am the biggest Devin Booker advocate, right? Would have been a hell of a team though: Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight, Jimmy Butler. It could have changed my entire coaching trajectory, right? Q. But why weren't you rolling? Watson: I’ve seen I really seen a kid who could be one of the greatest players to ever play. And I sat there and I watched the kid work. I'm in the gym with the kid. I think coaches who don't get in the gym with their players, no matter what your position is as a coach, I think you lose imagination. You got to get on the court. You got to be in the workouts. You got to see what a player can actually do and cannot do. So when you get in the game and you draw up a play, you're confident in that play or you develop plays because you see something that you don't see in practice that you might see in an individual session. Right. So in that moment, Chris, and this was the beginning of the end of me in Phoenix. In that moment, Chris, I say, "If you trade Devin Booker, I am resigning tonight." So, we go back and forth. And right now I feel sorry for Ryan McDonough because he is like ‘oh sh*t.’ I’m like I do not want to trade Devin Booker. You can build around him, I don't want to be the coach that traded potentially one of the best two guards, say five to 10 to ever play. I believe he had that potential. He had superstar potential.

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Former NBA star Eric Bledsoe was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly struck a woman in the face ... TMZ Sports has learned. The California Highway Patrol tells us officers placed Bledsoe into custody at around 2:30 AM following an investigation into a report of a domestic violence incident that occurred on a Los Angeles-area freeway.

TMZ.com

Former NBA star Eric Bledsoe broke into his L.A. home during an argument with his girlfriend this week, law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports ... and now, it appears he's publicly trying to make amends. We're told neighbors called the cops regarding a domestic disturbance at Bledsoe's residence ... and when officers arrived, Bledsoe and his girlfriend, Briona Mae, were uncooperative.

TMZ.com

The Shanghai Sharks strengthen the roster with the return of Eric Bledsoe and the signing of Javontae Hawkins.

Sportando

Law Murray: Asked Derrick Jones Jr. about what he focuses on to be effective defensively He discussed studying tendencies and watching film to see what attackers like to do. Also credited Earl Watson for putting him on Devin Booker and Eric Bledsoe when he was a rookie in Phoenix. pic.x.com/tOpZkYa6qM

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While many agents focus only on getting clients top value and delivering a return on investment, Paul learned from an early age one of the many ways in which Klutch could differentiate itself.  “I can’t beat the competition in every area,” Paul said, “but where I can beat them at is care. I’m going to focus on taking a guy like Eric Bledsoe and getting him more money than Kyle Lowry when he was an All-Star.” This difference was felt instantaneously. The five-year, $70 million contract Bledsoe received from Phoenix in 2014 was the first major deal Klutch signed, directly leading to the hotly sought-after rookie Kentavious Caldwell-Pope joining the agency. “KCP called me after that [and] we were able to build a business,” Paul said.

boardroom.tv

The workout took place on Saturday morning, Koloko's agent Calvin Andrews of Klutch Sports told The U.S. Sun. The 7-foot center was joined by fellow free agents DJ Wilson, Thon Maker, Cory Joseph, Austin Rivers, Brandon Boston Jr., Talen Horton-Tucker, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and two-time NBA All-Defensive guard Eric Bledsoe. They showcased their skills in front of dozens of NBA team representatives from across the league. Koloko is making progress in his efforts toward an NBA comeback.

the-sun.com

Termini and Klutch agreed to a three-year contract, later extended to 2020. Klutch agreed to pay Termini 25% of Klutch and Paul’s gross fee on NBA contracts and marketing deals. As depicted in the complaint, the contract contemplated fees being earned even if a contract between Klutch and an NBA player ended. Termini would also be the “exclusive provider” of contract negotiation services to Klutch. Termini estimates he negotiated “in excess of $1.4 billion in contracts” for Klutch through the free agency period preceding the 2019-2020 season. His services were used for deals with Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, Eric Bledsoe, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and, most notably, LeBron James. Termini says it was his idea to implement a “one plus one” contract strategy for James in which James earned more than $19 million over the course of three short Cavaliers contracts—instead of one longer deal—when he returned to the Cavs in 2014.

Sportico

Former Bucks player Eric Bledsoe re-signed with Chinese team Shanghai Sharks for the 2023-24 season.

HoopsHype

“(McDonough) was like, ‘What?,’” Chandler continued. “He was like, ‘Really? What do you think about (Knight and Bledsoe)?' I was like, ‘They’re good, but I’m telling you, me, them, this roster, (Booker is) better than all of us. That’s the best player you got on this roster,’ and he was like ‘Really?’”

Arizona Republic

The argument for Wembanyama at #1 is easy: we’ve never seen a 7’4” guy with guard skills who can shoot off the dribble. The argument for Miller at #2 is also pretty straightforward: he’s 6’7”, and lengthy wings are irresistible in today’s NBA. Scoot, meanwhile, is either 6’3” (if you believe his Twitter bio) or 6’2” (if you believe the draft experts). Either way, his height, along with questions about his shooting, have some scouts rethinking their rankings. When I ask Jeter how tall Scoot is, he tells me: “He’s 6-monster. The boy can jump. He’s explosive. He’s getting that leadership in him. It’s about how big that heart is. Heart over height. Always.” Jeter sees Henderson’s closest comp as Duke-era Jay Williams, who went first overall before his career was derailed by a motorcycle crash. Jeter also mentions Eric Bledsoe’s name, and I ask if he thinks he can really fill out like the famously muscular guard. “Yes, Scoot is huge. Scoot has abs underneath his armpits,” Jeter says. “He sent me a video the other day on Instagram and a person had abs on their back. I said, ‘That’s you, man!’ We always joke that he puts Muscle Milk in his cereal.”

GQ.com

Two basketball teams in the Chinese Basketball Association, the Shanghai Sharks and the Jiangsu Dragons, were thrown out of the ongoing playoffs for match-fixing. The Sharks have several players with NBA experience including Michael Beasley, Eric Bledsoe, Johnny O’Bryant, and Jamaal Franklin. Antonio Blakeney is the only player with NBA experience on the Dragons, although a few other players on the roster have played NBA Summer League. Findings from an investigation from the CBA Disciplinary and Ethics Commission concluded that Shangai showed “negative contention” during the second game of a three-game series, which Jiangsu won.

For The Win

Alberto de Roa: Eric Bledsoe has signed with Chinese club Shanghai Sharks. pic.twitter.com/WOQ5QTf8gF

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Eric Bledsoe is off the hook in his domestic violence case ... TMZ Sports has learned the former NBA player won't face criminal charges despite his arrest last week. The L.A. County District Attorney tells us ... the case has been declined "due to insufficient evidence."

TMZ.com