When the Los Angeles Clippers decided to trade Eric Bledsoe for Jared Dudley and J.J. Redick last summer, major contributions were expected from the two players. They had a simple job to take care of: space the floor and knock down open 3-pointers.
When he wasn’t injured, Redick did his part and was a huge part of the team’s offensive schemes, averaging 15.2 points while knocking down 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers. For whatever reason, Dudley regressed badly last season, averaging just 6.9 points on a career-low 43.8 percent shooting from the field, including 36 percent from the 3-point line. His career shooting average from beyond the arc was at a healthy 40-percent mark when the Clippers acquired him, so the steep drop in efficiency was a surprise, and apparently disappointing enough for Doc Rivers to do something about it.
On Tuesday, it was surprisingly announced that Dudley would be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Here are the details of the trade, from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
The Los Angeles Clippers have traded swingman Jared Dudley and a 2017 protected first-round pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for swingman Carlos Delfino, center Miroslav Raduljica and a second-round pick, a league source told Yahoo Sports.
Dudley, who averaged 6.9 points in 23.4 minutes per game last season, had fallen out of the Clippers’ plans and is owed $4.25 million each of the next two seasons, but has a player option for 2015-16. Dudley, 31, was a double-digit scorer from 2010-13 with the Phoenix Suns.
Unfortunately for Dudley, he will now go from being a contender to a team that is in rebuilding mode. The Bucks do have promising talent on the roster, but they are not one of the teams expected to contend for a playoff spot in the upcoming season. After finding out what happened, Dudley had the following to say on twitter:
Excited about joining the @bucks org and starting a new beginning.. It’s a great opportunity for me to get a fresh start .. #fearthedeer
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) August 26, 2014
Anybody got any cut and paste skills with changing my clippers jersey to a bucks one? Lol .. Time for a new avatar!
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) August 26, 2014
Dudley may be in line to play a bigger role with his new team and will look to rediscover his groove as an offensive threat. He will also have a chance to play the role of a mentor for some of the younger players on the Bucks roster, and enjoy the opportunity to watch this freak of nature do some crazy things.
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James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.