PHOENIX — A person with knowledge of the situation says a three-team trade is in place that sends J.J. Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Clippers and point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns.
The deal also sends Jared Dudley from the Suns to the Clippers and Caron Butler from the Clippers to the Suns. The Bucks will get two second-round draft picks, according to the person who requested anonymity because the deal can't officially be made public until July 10 under NBA rules.
Yahoo! Sports, which first reported the trade, said Redick gets a four-year, $27 million sign-and-trade contract as part of the exchange.
In Redick, the Clippers get a much-needed shooting guard to play alongside Chris Paul, who has decided to re-sign with a team that has visions of contending for the Western Conference title.
The Bucks acquired Redick from Orlando just before the February trade deadline, but decided not to re-sign him. Between the two teams, Redick averaged a career-best 14.1 points per game. He scored a career-high 31 points and made a career-best eight 3-pointers for Orlando against Detroit on Jan. 27. The former Duke star averaged 12.1 points with the Bucks.
Bledsoe is the important piece for the Suns in the first trade engineered by new general manager Ryan McDonough. Paul's highly regarded backup played three seasons for Los Angeles after being drafted 18th overall out of Kentucky in the 2010 draft. Bledsoe averaged 8.5 points and 3.1 assists in 76 games for the Clippers last season.
The Suns already have Goran Dragic and Kendall Marshall at point guard, then drafted another in 18-year-old Archie Goodwin from Kentucky with the 29th pick last week.
Just what McDonough plans to do to relieve that logjam remains an open question because team officials are prohibited from talking about any moves until July 10.
