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One of the smaller but most surprising trades that happened ahead of the March 25 deadline was when veteran sniper JJ Redick was traded from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Dallas Mavericks. In any other season, it would have been seen as a solid trade for Dallas, and nothing more.
But there’s an extra layer of confusion added to this trade, as it was widely reported in January that Redick wanted to play for a team closer to his family in Brooklyn, which would include one of the Northeast’s teams: Nets. , Knicks, Celtics and Sixers. . Well, Redick didn’t get any of his favorite destinations, and when the trade was executed the 16-year-old veteran wasn’t exactly thrilled.
Redick spoke about the trade in his podcast, The Old Man and the Three, on Wednesday:
“I was shocked, I was stunned, I didn’t expect that I would get traded at that point. That’s not a problem at all for the Dallas Mavericks, but the Mavericks weren’t one of the teams at one point that we discussed. . So I was a little upset afterwards and called Mark [Cuban] and what I told Mark was another year I would love to be traded to the Dallas Mavericks. It’s one of the main organizations, I think Rick [Carlisle] is one of the best coaches and as we just said the opportunity to play with Luka [Doncic] and Kristaps [Porzingis] and all of their guys – they have a great team. It was just a little shocking. “
Aside from the initial shock of being traded, and to a team not on his list of favorite destinations, Redick also disclosed that he requested a trade in November, ahead of the start of the season. After the league announced its decision to move forward with a season starting on Christmas Day, which would include strict health and safety protocols and did not allow players to travel much outside of the city in which they were playing, Redick realized he wanted to be near his family during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Redick said he had had several conversations with the Pelicans front office, particularly New Orleans Vice President David Griffin, and was assured he would be placed in the position he wanted the when the time comes.
“So I’m talking to Griff, I’m talking to Trajan. Griff basically said to me, ‘Come down for a month. If you still want to be traded, I give you my word, I’ll take you to a situation you like. ‘We had four conversations after that. Again my agent speaks to him, but I speak directly to Griff. This is how I wanted to handle it. Griff and I had a personal relationship, and he obviously didn’t keep his word. Again, that’s not a problem at all for Dallas. Basically from what I understand from February, once I wasn’t traded on the global February 2 deadline, I always understood that I was going to get a redemption. And if I was going to be traded, it was going to be to a team in the Northeast where I was closer to home and I could see my family for the last two or three months of the season. geographically speaking, of course, Dallas is further from New York than New Orleans. “
It is not uncommon for a team to go back on their word of fulfilling a player’s wish to be traded to a specific team or to be bought out of their contract to sign wherever they see fit. For New Orleans in particular, this isn’t the first time they’ve been difficult to deal with from a player’s perspective. The situation with Anthony Davis being the best example, where he wanted to be traded to the Lakers, but the Pelicans took forever to facilitate a trade with a team trying to get him.
However, Redick was surprised by New Orleans who traded him with a team further away from his family because he believed he had such a personal relationship with Griffin that he could trust him.
“I don’t think you’ll get the honesty from this front office. Just objectively. It’s not an opinion, I don’t think you’re going to get it. I don’t think about what happened with it. me. is necessarily an isolated incident either. But I think throughout the league, the front offices, they are acting in their own best interests. I understand that, I understand that. I honestly think – and it’s hard for me to admit it – but I think I was a little naive in thinking that because I was in 15th grade and had at least tried to do things right throughout my career and honored my market share – but in terms of the front office, this is not something where I would certainly expect the agents who worked on this with me to trust this front office again. “
While Redick wishes he could have been traded to a team closer to his family, he’s still excited to play alongside Doncic, Porzingis and the other players on the Mavericks’ roster. Redick has not been with the Mavericks since his trade as he is currently recovering from an injury that kept him sidelined for three weeks. However, he plans to have his first media session with the Mavericks on Thursday, where he will join Dallas ahead of their game against the Knicks on Friday night.
If Redick is able to regain his full health for Dallas, his shooting ability and ground spacing will help a Mavericks team sorely lacking in reliable shooters. Redick started this season incredibly slow, shooting only 29.5% deep during the first two months of the season. However, since February he has achieved over 45% of his shots from long range, while averaging 13.8 points during that time. If he can continue that streak, he will significantly help Dallas for the remainder of the season.
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