Eric Bledsoe is headed back to the LA Clippers, after starting his career as a backup to point guard Chris Paul in Los Angeles.
On Sunday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Clippers will send veteran point guards Patrick Beverley and Rajon Rondo along with second-year center Daniel Oturu to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Bledsoe, who was acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this offseason.
Can Bledsoe prove a playoff upgrade over Beverley and Rondo? Will the new Grizzlies ever make it to Memphis? Let's take a look.
Clippers get: Eric Bledsoe
Grizzlies get: Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo and Daniel Oturu
LA Clippers: A-
From a financial standpoint, this is a clear win for the Clippers. The question is whether it will help them on the court in 2021-22, as well.
Let's start with the salary element, which is substantial. The Clippers sent out three players who will make a combined $24.1 million this season (including a $750,000 incentive in Rondo's contract for reaching the playoffs) and got back Bledsoe, who will make $18.1 million. That $6 million difference might not sound like much, but remember that the Clippers are more than $30 million into the luxury tax, meaning they pay an extra $5 or so in tax for each dollar in salary they spend. Hence, this trade shaves $30 million off their tax bill.
By structuring this trade so that Beverley is the matching salary for Bledsoe, the Clippers also can create an $8.25 million trade exception for the value of Rondo's salary. (They'd also generate a $1.5 million one for Oturu, which is less useful.) Given the size of the Clippers' tax bill, that probably won't help them this season, but it could be valuable next summer if they decide to waive Bledsoe -- whose $19.4 million salary for 2022-23 is guaranteed for just $3.9 million through next June.
Additionally, trading three players for one solves a roster crunch for the Clippers, who had 15 players under guaranteed contracts, along with playoff standout Terance Mann, whose salary will guarantee on Aug. 25. Now, instead of having to waive a player with a guaranteed salary, they've got an extra roster spot. That might go to guard Yogi Ferrell, whose salary is non-guaranteed, though the Clippers could probably use another center to get through the 82-game schedule.
During the regular season, I think there's a pretty good chance that Bledsoe proves more valuable than Beverley and Rondo, if only because of his durability. Bledsoe has missed just 12 games due to injury over the past three seasons combined, while Beverley sat out 32 games in 2020-21 alone. Given his style of play, wear and tear might take a toll on Beverley in his 30s.
After a strong start with the Clippers, who acquired him from the Atlanta Hawks at the deadline, Rondo failed to yield the anticipated boost in the playoffs. He shot 28% on 2-point attempts in the postseason and fell out of the Clippers' rotation against both the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns, playing a combined 23 minutes after the first two games of those series. Although we're still less than a year removed from Rondo playing a key role in the Los Angeles Lakers' championship run, at some point we have to acknowledge that at 35 years old his age might be a concern.
The real test of this trade could come in the postseason, where Bledsoe struggled with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2019 and 2020. He shot a combined 24% from 3-point range, down from a more respectable 33% in those two regular seasons. The good news is the Clippers won't be depending as heavily on Bledsoe as the Bucks, who played him nearly 30 minutes a night in the playoffs. At this point, Bledsoe projects as the Clippers' backup to Reggie Jackson.
Despite this year's four postseason wins after Kawhi Leonard went down with a partial right ACL tear, 2021-22 also might not be the Clippers' best opportunity for a deep playoff run, depending on whether Leonard can return. That being the case, the savings seem well worth whatever chance of a downgrade there is.
Memphis: B
For the Grizzlies, the logic here seems to come down to turning Bledsoe's $3.9 million guarantee for 2022-23 into expiring salary. Adding $6 million this year shouldn't affect Memphis, because the Grizzlies didn't have meaningful cap space after the trade with New Orleans, and they are still comfortably below the luxury tax line.
It's hypothetically possible that Memphis could create meaningful cap space next summer if Jaren Jackson Jr. agrees to an extension starting at less than the maximum salary for players with zero to 6 years of experience (a projected $29.75 million). That prospect alone probably makes this deal worth doing for the Grizzlies, even if it means they inherit the Clippers' roster crunch.
Having previously been at the roster limit of 15 players with guaranteed contracts, Memphis now has two extra players who will have to be moved by the end of training camp. There's no rush for the Grizzlies, allowing them to wait and see whether any takers emerge for Beverley and Rondo -- who don't seem to fit on a Memphis team that already has Ja Morant and Tyus Jones at point guard.
Alternatively, the Grizzlies could keep Beverley and Rondo through a possible deal at the trade deadline along the lines of Andre Iguodala in 2019-20, if they're willing to move on from an existing player on a guaranteed contract (perhaps recently acquired Sam Merrill).
We'll see whether Memphis has any interest in Oturu, who was drafted No. 33 overall last fall but proved ineffective in his limited NBA appearances and looked like the odd man out for the Clippers before the trade. The lasting memory of Oturu's rookie season will be his 5 of 21 shooting performance in the final game of the regular season at the Oklahoma City Thunder in a five-point Clippers loss that dropped them to the No. 4 seed and the opposite side of the bracket from the Lakers.