JJ Redick Reveals Failed Rockets Deal That Sealed His Fate With the 76ers: “I Thought There Was a…”

JJ Redick could have been with the Houston Rockets back in 2017. The NBA veteran recently unveiled the conversation he had with Mike D’Antoni and Daryl Morey regarding his trade. However, the deal eventually failed, and Redick’s Houston dream did not exit the pipeline.

Talking to an ex-Rockets star Eric Gordon, Redick said that he’d had a good deal in hand and the chances of him going to Houston were very high. Despite agreeable conditions on the deal, one miscommunication between his management and the Rockets shelved his plan to join the James Harden-led team.

JJ Redick talks about the failed Houston trade

On a recent episode of The Old Man & Three podcast, Redick recalled his days of free agency in 2016-17. He said that he was approached by D’Antoni and Morey as they wanted to recruit him to play alongside Harden and Chris Paul. The idea was exciting for Redick as well and the negotiations were underway. Redick said, “I talked with D’Antoni on a park bench in Brooklyn Bridge Park about an hour before I made my decision.” The NBA veteran listed two things from their conversation that stood out to him. He said, “Number one, he said to me ‘I want every guy that ever plays for me to have their career year with me’.”

Redick was impressed by this as he saw it as a good commitment. The other thing that was important to him was the amount of time he’d get to spend on the court. He remembered asking D’Antoni the question during their conversation. He said that the Rockets coach had already mapped out the entire game plan in his head, with minutes divided between the team members. D’Antoni asked Redick how many minutes he played last year. Redick said that he played 28 minutes and the coach listed out his 28 minutes with the Rockets with all the rotations he had planned.

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Why did the JJ Redick deal fail?

According to his recent revelation, Redick was in sync with the plan that the Rockets management had for the upcoming season. He was also on board with the two conditions that were of utmost importance for the team. Despite that, his deal fell through, and he ended up going to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Redick said, “Daryl and I and my agent at the time, we had some miscommunication. I thought there was a four-year offer sheet, Daryl said it was only three. So I ended up going to Philly.”

Had this deal gone through, the trio of Redick, Harden, and CP would have been lethal in the league. That might’ve ended in the three stars of the game lifting their first NBA trophy. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to know what could have happened.

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