Grant Gondrezick and Clippers Reach Agreement on Contract

Grant Gondrezick, former Pepperdine guard who spent last season playing basketball in France after a brief stint with the Phoenix Suns that was overshadowed by a drug indictment, has agreed to sign with the Clippers, his agent said Tuesday.

Warren LeGarie said that the deal will be for one season, with the Clippers retaining an option year.

Gondrezick was a fourth-round draft pick by Phoenix in 1986 and played in 64 of the Suns’ 82 games, averaging 5.5 points.

In the final week of the regular season, Gondrezick, along with two other Suns and two former team members, was indicted on cocaine charges as part of the biggest drug scandal ever to hit a National Basketball Assn. team. He faced three counts, but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of witness tampering. He was fined $100 and put on three years’ probation. All drug charges were dismissed.

He tried out for the Suns last season, but was cut in training camp and went to Caen, France, saying just before leaving, “I had to go somewhere else and prove myself for a year.”

“Everything was fine,” Gondrezick said of his time in Europe. “I played great and am happy to be home.”