J.J. Redick Criticizes Pelicans Front Office For Trade to Mavericks
By Liam McKeone
One of the last deadline moves to go through the NBA transaction wire was made by the New Orleans Pelicans, trading veteran sharpshooter J.J. Redick to the Dallas Mavericks. This came as a bit of a surprise. The general consensus around the league leading up to March 25 was that Redick would end up in Brooklyn either via trade or buyout. No other possible destinations were floated in the rumor mill.
Redick went on his podcast today to explain the hows and whys of the trade that went down. He was not very happy at all that he was traded to Dallas. Not because he doesn't like the organization or the players he'll be lining up next to. No, he wasn't happy because Pelicans president of basketball operations David Griffin has been telling him since November that he would find a way to get the Redick to Brooklyn, where his family currently resides. He kept promising that until he traded Redick to Dallas.
You can see why that might make a player unhappy, especially one who is a 15-year veteran and did not bring back any significant return in exchange for his services. The Pelicans got James Johnson, Wes Iwundu, and a second-round pick for shipping off Redick and Nicolo Melli. Not exactly a trade they couldn't turn down. From the Old Man & The Three podcast:
JJ Redick on his podcast:
— Master (@MasterTes) March 31, 2021
- He was "shocked" to be traded to the Mavericks
- He requested a trade in November to be closer to his family in Brooklyn during COVID
- He thought the Pelicans would offer a buyout after the trade deadline pic.twitter.com/ElgsesVFHT
Here are some of the juicier tidbits:
JJ Redick not holding back on his podcast. On the Pelicans' front office:
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) March 31, 2021
"I don't think you're going to get honesty from that front office, just objectively speaking - that's not an opinion. I don't think what happened with me is an isolated incident"
"I don't expect the agents who worked with me to ever trust that front office again"
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) March 31, 2021
- If family came to NOLA, kids would have to quarantine for a week when they got back to Brooklyn
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) March 31, 2021
- Says Griff basically told him, "Come down for a month, if you still want out, I give you my word, I'll get you to a situation you like"
- Had 4 convos after this directly w Griff
Redick: "I look at the buyout situation not as Oh I'm going to get bought and go to Brooklyn. I just wanted to be able to, on an off day, go see my family and be within driving distance."
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) March 31, 2021
Basketball is a business and all that, but this is the other side of it. Management can do stuff like this without any real blowback, but nowadays players aren't afraid to speak out. Especially players who have a platform off the court like Redick and his podcast. Everyone knows how Griffin operates now, and it could come back to bite him in future negotiations.