J.J. Redick was as surprised as anyone when he heard he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks before last Thursday's deadline.
On his “Old Man and the Three” podcast, Redick excoriated the New Orleans Pelicans upper management — namely president of basketball operations David Griffin and GM Trajan Langdon — for their disloyalty, after they seemingly assured the sharpshooter that he would be either traded to a team close to home or bought out.
“I was shocked,” Redick said. “I was floored, I was not expecting, at that point, to get traded. Again, this is not any sort of slight on the Dallas Mavericks, but the Dallas Mavericks were not one of the teams at any point in time that we had discussed…so it was just a little jarring.”
The guard said COVID-19 protocols made it nearly impossible to travel back and forth to see his family.
“Back in November, I made a trade request … I had multiple, very transparent conversations with Trajon Langdon and David Griffin. The impetus for this was: my son had started kindergarten in Brooklyn back in September. We had no idea when the NBA season was going to start … The NBA sort of sprung this: ‘We're starting on Christmas day!' and, simultaneously, to that announcement, the Pelicans were trading Jrue Holiday. “
Redick said Holiday was one of the main reasons he signed in New Orleans.
“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.”
When Redick wasn't traded at the aggregate deadline in February, he thought he was destined for a buyout after subsequent conversations with the front office.
“Obviously, [Griffin] did not honor his word…I don't think you're going to get honesty from that front office, objectively speaking. That's not an opinion, I just don't think you're gonna get that. I don't think what happened with me is necessarily an isolated incident. I think front offices around the league operate in their best interest. I get that. I understand that.
“Truthfully… I think I was a little naive thinking I was in Year 15 and I attempted to do things right throughout my career. But in terms of this front office, yeah, it's not something where I would expect certainly the agents who worked on this with me to ever trust that front office again.”
JJ Redick on his podcast:
– 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— Master (@MasterTes) March 31, 2021
On Wednesday, Pelicans head coach Van Gundy fired back at Redick, whom he coached with the Orlando Magic.
“You'll hear people say, ‘it's a business,' well it is. Players are gonna wanna do what's right for them and they have every damn right to do that, and organization's have every damn right to do what's best for their organization and I have problems when it gets skewed—that it's a business on my end, but it should not be a business on your end.”
“Look, I love JJ. I've enjoyed coaching him, he's one of the guys I most respect in the league. He did provide leadership while he was here, and while I think it's unfortunate he leaves not feeling good about it, that happens a lot in this league, unfortunately.”
I asked #Pelicans head coach Stan Van Gundy about JJ Redick's comments regarding his departure from NOLA and if he'll have to address with his players the issues of "trust" which JJ mentioned.
Many Pels of course young, looked to JJ for leadership.SVG full answer in clip 👇 pic.twitter.com/ttyXKL6XrY
— Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) March 31, 2021
Redick has yet to play a game for the Mavericks as he recovers from a heel injury. The 36-year old is averaging 8.7 points per game and shooting 36.4 percent from three. The Pelicans are 21-25 this season.
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