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76ers Rumors: JJ Redick Wants to Sign New Contract, Retire with Philly
June 30, 2019
Free-agent shooting guard JJ Redick reportedly wants to return to Philadelphia next season and is hoping to retire as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, according to Jeff Skversky of 6 ABC Philadelphia.
The 35-year-old Redick has been superb for the Sixers in his two seasons with the team, averaging 17.6 points in Philly while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three. His partnership with Joel Embiid, in particular, has been impressive, as Redick runs off of dribble-handoffs from the big man to great effect.
Redick has also benefited from the vision of point guard Ben Simmons, who often finds Redick for open three-pointers in transition. And with the Sixers running plenty of action to get Redick open on the perimeter, his sharpshooting from deep has become a vital part of the team's offense.
It seems likely the Sixers will want Redick back as well. The issue for the team may be figuring out who else is coming to the team, and for how much.
Jimmy Butler is a free agent, and his future seems very much up in the air. Tobias Harris is also a free agent and could consider moving on as well. If both leave, it would be shocking if Redick didn't return, barring the team finding another option at shooting guard.
But if both stay, the Sixers may not have much money left to both retain Redick and fill out their bench with veteran role players. The team desperately needs a viable backup center behind Embiid, while bringing back power forward Mike Scott would make sense. Adding a veteran wing and even a backup point guard would be logical as well.
Addressing all of those needs and matching market value for Redick—who should have plenty of suitors in free agency—without hitting the luxury tax apron and becoming hard-capped would be tough to pull off. It's possible that the veteran sharpshooter, who has earned $35.2 million with the Sixers over the past two seasons, could take a discount to return.
And it's all potentially a moot point if the Sixers either don't bring back both Butler and Harris, or don't bring them back on five-year, supermax deals. So Redick may find himself in something of a limbo until both players make a decision, though it sounds as though his goal is returning to Philly.