Phoenix Suns trade Caron Butler to Milwaukee Bucks

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

The Milwaukee Bucks added needed veteran help Wednesday, agreeing to send point guard Ish Smith and center Viacheslav Kravtsov to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for small forward Caron Butler.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the deal to USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the trade has not yet been announced.

After being traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Suns on July 10, Butler had embraced his new situation in Phoenix after their 25-57 finish last season.

But this fit is far better for the 11-year veteran, as he gets the chance he has longed for to play for his hometown team (he's from Racine, Wis.), while the Bucks get a productive player that could help keep them in contention in the Eastern Conference.

Milwaukee has overhauled its roster in recent months, landing former Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Knight in a sign-and-trade for point guard Brandon Jennings and losing shooting guards Monta Ellis (to the Dallas Mavericks) and J.J. Redick (to the Clippers in the previous deal involving Butler) to free agency. They gave young center Larry Sanders a four-year, $44 million extension, but were otherwise short on proven talent.

Butler started each of the past two seasons for a Clippers team that went 40-26 in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season and won a franchise-record 56 games last year before falling to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. He will earn $8 million in what is the final season of his contract.

Because the Bucks could absorb Butler's contract into their salary cap space, the Suns — who take on young talent that is owed about $2.5 million guaranteed in all — gain nearly $6 million of salary cap room for future flexibility. Kravtsov is a 26-year-old 7-footer from the Ukraine who played sparingly for the Detroit Pistons last season, while Smith, 25, is an athletic but undersized playmaker out of Wake Forest who will play for his sixth team in four seasons.

The Racine Journal Times first reported the trade talks, and The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic first reported that the deal had been agreed on.