Grizzlies send Bledsoe back to Clippers in four player trade
Eric Bledsoe is heading back to the team that drafted him after a four player trade between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Los Angeles Clippers will send three players to the Memphis Grizzlies to secure the return of guard Eric Bledsoe, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Bledsoe back with Clips
After eight years away from LA, Bledsoe comes back to the Staples Center. The deal will save the Clippers $30 million in luxury tax, and will have a year to use an $8.3 million traded player exception.
Los Angeles sent Patrick Beverley, Raton Rondo and Daniel Oturu to Memphis in order to make way for Bledsoe. The Grizzlies will also free up some salary cap space next summer having been liberated of the $19.3 million contract Bledsoe is due in the last year of his deal.
LA part ways with fan favorite Beverly
Bledsoe was traded to the Grizzlies just before this years NBA draft, after spending last season with the New Orleans Pelicans where he averaged 12.2 points and 3.8 assists. His time in LA was cut short when the Clips signed Chris Paul after Bledsoe’s rookie season. His numbers dipped and he was traded to Phoenix. The two-time All NBA Defensive team selection had his best season with the Suns in 2016-17, averaging 21.1 points and 6.3 rebounds a game.
Beverley heads to Memphis, despite being a fan favorite and the heart and soul of the Clippers, especially on the defensive end. Beverly was the starting point guard for the majority of the season, but lost his job to Reggie Jackson in the Western Conference playoffs. Beverly is in the last year of his contract and set to make $14.3 million.
Rondo dissapeared in Playoffs for Clips
Rondo is also in the last year of his contract, and is on track to bring in $7.5 million. The veteran point guard was brought to LA from Atlanta in the trade deadline last year, but never found his role on a team that was looking for experience and leadership, especially late in the playoffs. Rondo played just 13 games in the postseason and was an afterthought for coach Ty Lue in the Western Conference Finals.
Oturu was drafted in the second round of last years draft. He played in 30 games his rookie year averaging less than to points a night.
LA looking for another deep post season run
Bledsoe joins a Clippers team that were just two games away from the NBA Finals. LA has signed Reggie Jackson to an extension, and have Paul George locked in with a long term deal. If Los Angeles is going to make another run for the title, they will have to do it, at least at the start of the season, with out Kawhi Leonard who is recovering from surgery to repair a partially torn ACL.