J.J. Redick almost signed with the Houston Rockets instead of the Philadelphia 76ers during free agency.
J.J. Redick was looking for a new home in the offseason, and he almost found it in Houston.
Instead, he signed a one-year, $23 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.
He chose to join forces with a young team on the rise in a weaker Eastern Conference. Can’t blame him, but us Rockets fans can’t help but to ponder about what could have been.
Redick discussed the details of the deal on the Hoops Hype Podcast with Alex Kennedy (via Bryan Kalbrosky).
“They offered four and then they went three. Daryl always has a million things going on, like in A Beautiful Mind with all of the stuff written on the chalkboard. I’m sure he had four or five deals out there . The day before free agency, I thought it was a four-year deal. Chris Paul and I talked for about 30 minutes the night before free agency started. I wanted to go there.
“ – some of it was numbers and some of it was other factors like relocating the family and – I hate to say this – but you never know with Daryl and how he operates. A three-year deal could really be a six-month deal if you get dealt at the trade deadline for a superstar as part of a package of six.”
As Redick noted, he nearly signed with Houston, but became uneasy about signing a long-term. Daryl Morey originally offered Redick a four-year contract, but slashed it to three, in an effort to keep Houston’s cap flexible.
The Rockets didn’t miss out.
The Rockets have shown that they are in “win-now” mode, and that always involves acquiring star talent. J.J. knew that he could be used in a trade scenario, so he decided to sign with Philadelphia instead.
Although J.J. Redick is a great player, the Rockets didn’t miss much. Houston already has a similar player in Eric Gordon, who like Redick, is a three-point specialist.
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Bolstering the defense with Luc Mbah a Moute and P.J. Tucker was a better move than adding another shooter to a team full of marksmen. The Rockets will head into next season with a more complete roster than last year.