AP Source: Suns, Bledsoe agree to 5-year deal

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns and point guard Eric Bledsoe have reached agreement on a five-year, $70 million contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.

The person spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been officially announced.

The deal is considerably more than the four-year, $48 million the Suns initially offered but well below the five-year, $80 million-plus maximum contract Bledsoe's agent, Rich Paul, sought for the restricted free agent.

The sides didn't budge in their negotiations until talks finally progressed in the last few days.

Bledsoe faced an Oct. 1 deadline to sign a $3.7 million qualifying offer to play for the Suns this season, then become an unrestricted free agent.

"Happy to be back in the valley of the (Sun)!!!," Bledsoe said in a tweet. "Clutch my brother Rich Paul."

It was accompanied by an Instagram photo of Bledsoe signing his contract. Paul is Bledsoe's agent and also represents LeBron James.