J.J. Redick was very, very close to turning the Philadelphia 76ers down in free agency to join the Houston Rockets.
The sharpshooter told the HoopsHype podcast that he originally made contract length his number one priority, and planned to join the Rockets when they gave him a four-year offer — but a late change in the situation gave him pause.
“They offered four [years] and then they went three,” Redick said, via Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. “Daryl [Morey] always has a million things going on, like in A Beautiful Mind with all of the stuff written on the chalkboard. I’m sure he had four or five deals out there [he was working on]. The day before free agency, I thought it was a four-year deal. Chris Paul and I talked for about 30 minutes the night before free agency started. I wanted to go there.
“Some of it was numbers and some of it was other factors like relocating the family and – I hate to say this – but you never know with Daryl and how he operates. A three-year deal could really be a six-month deal if you get dealt at the trade deadline for a superstar as part of a package of six.”
Redick also said Houston was willing to pay him more total money, but you can see the other factors that went into his decision. It’s interesting that Morey’s reputation as an active, risk-taking GM may well have cost him Redick.
