The Los Angeles Clippers were dangling backup point guard Eric Bledsoe in trade talks over the past month, and they finally have dealt him.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Bledsoe and Caron Butler are headed to the Phoenix Suns as part of a three-team trade involving the Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks. The Clippers are sending Bledsoe and Butler to Phoenix and will receive Redick from the Bucks, and Jared Dudley from Phoenix. Milwaukee is getting a pair of second-round picks in return for trading Redick, per Wojnarowski.
Redick will head to the Clippers in a sign-and-trade deal, per Woj. He will get a four-year deal worth $27 million.
Though the Clippers may have been reluctant to trade an athletic, talented point guard like Bledsoe, they are getting two valuable pieces in return. Redick’s specialty is outside shooting, and he has also improved his defense since being drafted in 2006. He is a player who understands his role and does not demand the ball unlike many other shooting guards, which should make him a good fit for the Clippers, who already have a few top players like Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
Like Redick, Dudley is also a top outside shooter. Dudley is a career 47.3 percent shooter from the field and 40.5 percent from 3-point range.
With the addition of Dudley and Redick, it’s clear that the Clippers are trying to improve their outside shooting.
Redick was an unrestricted free agent, so the Bucks didn’t do poorly by getting a few draft picks in return for him. The Suns are getting an exciting guard in return for Dudley, and they get a solid player with an expiring, inexpensive $8 million contract in Butler. The deal should work well for all three teams.
