LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers will acquire point guard Eric Bledsoe from Memphis in a deal sending Rajon Rondo and Patrick Beverley to the Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper said the Clippers would part with veteran guards Beverley and Rondo, as well as second-year center Daniel Oturu, in the trade.
Bledsoe, 31, is an 11-year NBA veteran with career averages of 14.0 points, 4.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.
He averaged 12.2 points, 3.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds a game last season in 71 games with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bledsoe launched his NBA career with the Clippers, playing three seasons with them before he was dealt to the Phoenix Suns in July 2013.
Bledsoe landed in Memphis earlier this month in a three-team deal involving the Pelicans, Grizzlies and Charlotte Hornets.
ESPN reported the deal will save the Clippers $30 million in the NBA luxury tax and create an $8.3 million traded-player exception they will have a year to use.
Beverley, 33, was the longest-tenured Clippers player, having arrived from Houston as part of a blockbuster trade for Chris Paul in 2017.
The Clippers had acquired Rondo, an NBA champion with Boston in 2008 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, at the trade deadline from the Atlanta Hawks last season.
© Agence France-Presse