JJ Redick reports that he nearly joined the Indiana Pacers
By Tony East
JJ Redick went on his own podcast and discussed the NBA Offseason. Apparently, he was very close to joining the Indiana Pacers.
NBA free agency is exciting and enchanting. Player movement is fun to monitor, and keeping track of where everyone ends up can be more than a hobby for some people. But something almost as interesting as where players actually end up is learning where players almost ended up. For JJ Redick, the Indiana Pacers were an “almost” destination.
JJ Redick recently did his podcast and he discussed this summers free agency. In that discussion, he divulged that he was extremely close to joining the Indiana Pacers:
JJ Redick: “I almost signed with Indy. I was an hour away, two hours away, I was very close. I had a 5:00 PM deadline... it was 12:30, 1:00 in the afternoon when Philly changed the offer... I had a whole conversation with Nate McMillan.”
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) July 26, 2018
Redick would seem to fit the theme that the Pacers were going for this offseason of adding shooters. Doug McDermott and Tyreke Evans both finished in the top-50 leaguewide in three-point percentage last season, and Redick is known for his shooting.
It seems as though the Philidelphia 76ers were offering less money for Redick’s services than the Indiana Pacers were originally, but at the last moment the Sixers swooped in and upped their offer. The Pacers were probably just a few hours away from landing Redick’s services.
The timing of Redick’s decision is interesting. The Pacers agreed to terms with McDermott just before the free agency period began, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported that the Pacers and Douggie agreed to a deal on June 30th. Redick’s re-upping with Philly was reported on July 2nd, and the specifics of the deal were still in the air, as evidenced by Woj’s phrasing “in the $12-13 million range”. Is it possible that the Pacers were pursuing Redick on the 30th, and then once Redick chose to return to Philly, they pivoted and grabbed McDermott that night?
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Who knows, but that timeline makes some sense. Redick’s deal and Tyreke Evans contract ended up being very similar, so many people are connecting the dots that the Pacers may have gone after Evans once they were spurred from Redick’s camp. But I am skeptical of that – those two players have very different play styles and do very different things.
Who knows what the exact timeline is or what deals were offered. But either way, JJ Redick was closer than we all think to becoming an Indiana Pacer this season.