After starting his career as a substitute for Chris Paul, Eric Bradsoe returned to the Los Angeles Clippers again.
On Sunday, reporter Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Los Angeles Clippers sent veteran Rajon Rondo, guard Patrick Beverley and second-year center Daniel Otulu to the Grizzlies in exchange for the Grizzlies early in the offseason. Eric Bradsoe, traded from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Can Bradsoe prove that he will be the top replacement for Rondo and Beverly in the playoffs? Will the two new players become part of the Grizzlies or will they continue to be traded? Let us be together.
Transaction details:
Clippers get: Eric Bradsoe
Grizzlies get: Patrick Beverly, Rajon Rondo, Daniel Otulu
Los Angeles Express Boat: A-
From the financial situation of the team, this deal is clearly a victory for the Clippers. But the question is whether this deal can help the Clippers in the 2021-22 game.
Let us start with the essential salary of this transaction, which is the salary structure. The Clippers sent away three players with a total salary of 24.1 million (including Rondo's $750,000 bonus that will be activated in the playoffs) in exchange for an annual salary of 18.1 million Bradsoe. Although the 6 million salary gap does not seem to represent much, please note that the Clippers are now on the luxury tax line, which means that the Clippers need to pay a luxury tax of $5 for every dollar spent. Therefore, this transaction helped the Clippers account to save 30 million budget.
Because the framework of this transaction is the salary matching of Bradsoe and Beverly, the Clippers also created a special case of 8.25 million (there is also a special case of 1.5 million Otulu, but it seems useless). Taking into account the Clippers’ current salary structure, the 8.25 million exception does not seem to help them this season, but if the Clippers decide to lay off Bradsoe next summer (Bradsoe’s 19.4 million salary next season is only 3.9 million guarantee) This transaction exception may play a big role.
In addition, swapping three players for one player solved the problem of the Clippers player roster.The Clippers currently have 15 players with guaranteed contracts. Together with Terrence Mann, who has performed well in the playoffs, his contract will be converted to protection on August 25 (so the guaranteed list exceeds one player ). But after making this deal, the Clippers saved two positions. Not only did they avoid the dilemma of having to lay off one player, they could also choose to sign another player. They may also consider leaving this position to Yogi Ferrell who has a non-guaranteed contract, or they may consider signing a center to help them survive 82 regular season games.
For Bradsoe, the regular season is an excellent opportunity to prove his worth (greater than Rondo & Beverly), because the regular season tests the durability of a player's body. Bradsoe has missed 12 games only due to injury in the past three seasons, while Beverley missed 32 games last season alone. Considering Beverly's age, injuries may repeatedly harass him for the rest of his career.
After coming to the Clippers in the early stage, Rondo failed to meet the management's expectations of him in the playoffs. He made only 28% of his two-pointers in the playoffs, and even fell out of the rotation in the series against the Jazz and the Suns. Although it has only been less than a year since the Lakers played a key performance to help them win the championship, Rondo's form and his age make it doubtful whether he can still play an important role.
We may need to see the success of this trade in the playoffs, because Bradsoe has struggled in the 2019 and 2020 playoffs. In the 19/20 season, Bradsoe's postseason three-point shooting percentage was only 28%, which is a huge drop from his 33% shooting percentage in the regular season. The good news is that the Clippers will not rely too much on his offensive performance like the Bucks back then. At this stage, Bradsoe's positioning may be more like a replacement for Thunder Jackson.
Considering that Kawhi Leonard will miss most of the games next season due to an ACL injury, the future of the Clippers' playoffs in the 2021-22 season may not be so clear. Nevertheless, considering the substantial savings in salary space, the author is still very optimistic about this transaction.
Memphis Grizzlies: B
For Grizzlies,The logic of this transaction may be to convert Bradsoe’s 3.9 million partial guarantee contract in 2022 into multiple expiring contracts. An increase of 6 million in the salary structure will not affect the Grizzlies, because Grizzlies has ample salary space and still has a certain distance from the luxury tax line.
The Grizzlies can theoretically create a more objective salary space. Assuming that next summer they can leave with an offer lower than the maximum salary. Jalen Jackson Jr. (expected annual salary of 29.5 million US dollars), this This expectation may explain why the Grizzlies chose to make this deal, although it will crowd the list of players for the Grizzlies.
Before the deal, the Grizzlies’ roster already had 15 players, so after the deal, the Grizzlies’ guarantee contract exceeded the player’s roster by two players, which means that the Grizzlies must deal with two guarantee contracts before the start of the season. . This has not reached the imminent level for the Grizzlies, they can explore in the market whether there is a team willing to continue to take over Rondo and Beverly. For a team that already has Ja Morant and Tyrese Jones, the roles of Rondo and Beverly seem to be somewhat marginal.
In addition, the Grizzlies can also choose to keep these two players and explore the possibility of a deal before the trade deadline - just as they did for Andre Iguodala in the 2019-20 season_ The choice of span24span is the same, but the prerequisite for this is that they are willing to be part of the Grizzlies.
Whether the Grizzlies are interested in cultivating Daniel Otulu in depth seems to be examined. The rookie with the 33rd overall pick last year struggled last season and has a limited presence on the court. Everyone's impression of Otulu may be limited to his 5-for-21 shooting against the Thunder in the final game of the regular season, but this managed to make the Clippers fall to the No. 4 seed.
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