Report: Suns, Bledsoe making progress in contract talks

The summer's last major free agent may finally be close to coming off the market, as the Phoenix Suns and restricted free agent guard Eric Bledsoe are reportedly back at the negotiating table.

Reports all offseason suggested that the Suns - who were said to have offered a four-year, $48 million contract early in the process - and Bledsoe's camp had talked little all summer. Bledsoe wanted a maximum extension and the Suns weren't willing to go that far, and that appeared to be the stalemate.

In the meantime, Bledsoe's camp - headed by the agent he shares with LeBron James, Rich Paul - was unable to secure an offer sheet or work a sign-and-trade, despite reported interest from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Suns had little reason to agree to a sign-and-trade without an appreciable asset being returned, and they held all of the leverage in negotiations.

The only option for Bledsoe, failing an offer sheet, was and is to sign his one-year, $3.7 million qualifying offer. Such a move would allow Bledsoe to control his own fate as an unrestricted free agent next summer, but would assume a great deal of risk and forego a higher salary in the interim.

Adrian Wojnarowski later reported that the Suns are said to have pushed their $48 million offer "into the $50 million range."

In any case, it appears less likely that Bledsoe will be sitting at home when training camps get underway, which is probably a positive for everyone.