After an eventful offseason, it’s the J.J. Redick signing that looks like the Philadelphia 76ers‘ best move.
Bryan Colangelo had himself quite a busy offseason, bringing both young and veteran talent to the City of Brotherly Love. He signed veterans Amir Johnson and J.J. Redick to one year deals, brought Furkan Korkmaz over from Turkey, and traded up to select Markelle Fultz.
Despite receiving multi-year offers from a number of teams, Redick decided to accept a one year deal from the Philadelphia 76ers. The veteran sharpshooter has been a key player on the court and has been an invaluable presence in the locker room. Thus far, Redick has been worth every penny of his $23 million salary.
Redick’s impact on the court
The Sixers struggled immensely in the scoring department last season. The injuries of Joel Embiid and Jerryd Bayless certainly did the team no favors. Bryan Colangelo knew that his most important task this offseason was to find guys who can score with ease and bring them over to Philly.
Philadelphia 76ers
What better man to do the job than J.J. Redick? Redick had the best seasons of his career during his four years with the Clippers. In L.A., he established himself as an elite scorer and one of the league’s most dangerous perimeter threats.
He averaged at least 15.0 points per game in all four of his seasons with the Clippers. Furthermore, 42.9 percent or better from three in all but one of his seasons in the City of Angels.
Since coming to Philadelphia, he has been as good as advertised. Through seven games, he is averaging 15.0 points per game and shooting 43.5 percent from three.
Redick’s inability to miss from downtown is a key reason why the Sixers 5-4 and have a winning record for the first time since November of 2013.
Though the Sixers lost the season opener to Washington, Redick was 4-8 from downtown and kept the team in the game until the very end. In the Sixers’ heartbreaking loss to Houston, Redick was clutch, dropping 22 points against James Harden & Co.
Lastly, the Sixers’ huge victory over the Indiana Pacers would not have been possible without Redick’s hot hand. Redick finished the game with 31 points and hit eight of his twelve three-point attempts. In fact, he hit a couple clutch triples at the end, which all but cemented the Sixers’ win.
J.J.’s impact off the court
In addition to being a dominant force on the court, J.J. Redick has been vital to the team’s success due to his invaluable presence in the locker room.
The Sixers have many talented young players in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Dario Saric, and many others. However, the team did not have many veteran leaders in the locker room.
Bryan Colangelo made it his goal to infuse veteran leadership into his young squad this past offseason. His moves have paid major dividends just under a month into the season.
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Young teams, though talented, often struggle, but the Sixers have experienced success because of vets such as Redick. Bryan Colangelo looks like a genius for signing Redick, and it is essential he lock Redick up on a long-term deal the very second this season ends.