The New Orleans Pelicans made one move at the NBA trade deadline. While many people were expecting Lonzo Ball to be on the move, it was his teammate, JJ Redick, who was traded away to the Dallas Mavericks. That’s what the focus was in NBA trade rumors during the build up to the deadline, at least.
Redick was traded to the Mavericks, along with Nico Melli, in exchange for James Johnson, Wesley Iwundu and a 2021 second-round draft pick. To say that Redick is displeased with how things transpired would be an understatement.
Redick originally requested a trade back in November for several reasons. He wanted to be closer to his family in Brooklyn, where his son is beginning kindergarten and because of quarantine rules at his school, would not be allowed to travel to New Orleans to watch his dad play. Jrue Holiday being traded away is another reason Redick requested to be dealt, as Holiday was as big a reason as any for Redick joining the Pelicans.
JJ Redick was under the impression he was going to be bought out following the February 2nd deadline he and the team had set for a trade to be consummated. Redick was hoping to land in the Northeast so that he could be closer to his family in Brooklyn and that was frequently mentioned in NBA trade rumors before he was dealt to the Mavericks.
“I look at the buyout situation not as, ‘Oh, I’m going to be bought out and go to [the] Brooklyn [Nets],'” he said. “I just wanted to be able to, on an off day, go see my family and be within driving distance.”
Redick said all of this was expressed to Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin and general manager Trajan Langdon. Redick says that Griffin did not honor his word.
“I talked to Griff. I talked to Trajan. Griff basically says to me, ‘Come down for a month. If you still want to be traded, I give you my word, I’ll get you to a situation that you like.’ We had four subsequent conversations,” Redick said on the podcast. “Again, my agent talked to them. But I’m talking to Griff directly. Griff and I had a personal relationship.
“Obviously, he did not honor his word.”
As everyone says, the NBA is a business. However, there are still ethics involved in business dealings, and if there was an agreement between Redick and the team that was broken, it is understandable that he is frustrated and disappointed.
He offered a blunt, scathing opinion of the Pelicans’ front office on his podcast “The Old Man & the Three”.
“I don’t think you’re going to get honesty from that front office, just objectively speaking,” Redick said. “That’s not an opinion — I just don’t think you’re going to get that. I don’t think what happened with me is necessarily an isolated incident either. But I do think across the league, front offices, they act in their best interest. I get that. I understand that.
“Truthfully — and it’s hard for me to admit this — I think I was a little naive in thinking that because I was in Year 15, and I had at least attempted to do things right throughout my career and I honored my end of the bargain … But in terms of this front office, yeah, it’s not something where I would expect certainly the agents that worked on this with me to ever trust that front office again.”
While disappointed at how things transpired, JJ Redick holds no ill will toward the Mavericks and is excited to play with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, who he described as transcendent young players. This comes after there were NBA rumors about him potentially sitting out.
