The decision to bring a lauded marksman like J.J. Redick from the bench was a tough assessment Sixers coach Brett Brown had to make coming into the offseason, allowing for his young talent to flourish while still having the veteran leadership and scoring punch he's so badly desired from a second unit. Brown turned to his mentor, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who dealt with a similar transition, turning a rising star by the name of Manu Ginobili into a sixth man to given his second unit a much-needed scoring punch.

“I reached out to Manu and Pop, especially Manu, and listened to him’,” said Brown, according to NBA.com's David Aldridge. “‘Cause I couldn’t remember. It was 10 years ago. I said, what do you remember? I’m considering doing this with J.J. I want to know what you remember from a player’s perspective.’ And I listened to Pop and I listened to that. And we won the Finals that year (2007). And I sat with J.J., and we talked this through. We did this together. I wanted to make sure everything was thought through. It’s a level of respect for him and a level of respect for the team.”

The change would have second-year player Markelle Fultz starting at shooting guard instead of Redick, giving Brown a multi-playmaker backcourt with him and Simmons, while also boosting the team's defensive presence due to Fultz' long wingspan and athletic game, which he put on display during the preseason with a ridiculous chasedown block.

And then another recovery block on Monday against D.J. Augustin of the Orlando Magic.

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Redick's minutes won't dwindle, as Brown explained they would be merely redistributed, still giving him the chance to finish games.

“As you’re doing this, the notion of ending games is the place, obviously, I’m going to go,” Brown said. “With J.J., his minutes aren’t going to be reduced; they’re just going to be redistributed.”

Redick's willingness to have a change of role could ultimately be the source that propels the Sixers success, just like it did for the Spurs in 2007 and for the Golden State Warriors and Andre Iguodala in 2015.