The Los Angeles Lakers have made several roster moves this offseason, but the Purple and Gold are not yet done tweaking their squad as reports indicated that they are interested in acquiring Eric Bledsoe.
ESPN insider Marc Stein reported on Wednesday that the Lakers are one of the teams who are expected to make a run at Bledsoe, who is still available on the free agency market after failed contract talks with the Phoenix Suns.
Previous reports indicated that the Suns tendered a four-year, $48 million deal to Bledsoe earlier in the offseason, but the 24-year-old point guard turned down the offer.
Bledsoe, who averaged 17.5 points to go along with 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game with Suns last season, is demanding for a maximum five-year deal worth $85 million contract from Phoenix.
However, the Suns are not willing to give Bledsoe a max, creating speculation that the four-year veteran will likely take a qualifying offer from Phoenix then become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Should Bledsoe take that route, the Suns might be forced to trade the emerging guard instead of running risk of losing him for nothing through free agency after next season.
According to Hoops Habit, the Lakers are in a good position to acquire Bledsoe if the Suns decide to trade him this offseason or before next season's trade deadline with sources saying that they could offer a package involving Jordan Hill and Nick Young.
The Lakers are looking to bounce back from a dismal year after posting a measly 27-55 record last season, which was one of their worst finishes in franchise history.
Los Angeles made several moves this summer, including trading for former Houston Rockets starting point guard Jeremy Lin, and signing veteran power forward Carlos Boozer. The Lakers also selected Julius Randle in the 2014 NBA Draft, while also naming Byron Scott as the team's new coach.
Scott, who replaced Mike D'Antoni after the embattled coach stepped down from his post this summer, won't guarantee a major turnaround in the 2014-15 NBA season, but the veteran bench tactician vowed that the Lakers will be a better team compared to last year.
"I don't know if we can reach all those things or not," Scott said in a Los Angeles Register interview when asked about making the playoffs next season. "The one thing we know is we want to aim for them. That's the biggest thing, we want to feel that we're going to go after those things each and every day and we want to get better as a basketball team."
