Philadelphia 76ers: J.J. Redick (might) want a Philly reunion

In case you haven’t heard, the Philadelphia 76ers are in a bit of a transitional period.

They just pulled off their most consequential trade since… Jrue Holiday? Andrew Bynum? Moses Malone? and are a few days away from the debut of their new second superstar, James Harden. The road was long, interpersonal relationships were tested, and after about a million rumors, reports, and anonymous quotes, the Ben Simmons saga – and The Process as a whole – is officially over.

With a roster spot freed up in the deal that also featured Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and Paul Milsap, the Sixers now must turn their attention to free agency, the G-League, and the buyout market to secure a 15th man to play out the remainder of the regular season and maybe, just maybe, make an impact come playoff time.

But who could it be? Could we see Harden reunited with Danuel House either in a 10-day contract or signed outright? Sure, read about that idea here. Or what about addressing the team’s deficiencies on both the wings and in the paint with Gary Harris and/or Robin Lopez from the Orlando Magic? That is also a possibility, assuming one or both are bought out by the Magic.

What if I were to tell you there is an incredibly intriguing though unconventional option technically on the market with a ton of experience playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, an innate knowledge of playing for Doc Rivers, and has a very successful basketball podcast called “The Old Man and the Three?” Would you be interested in that? Because the player in question – and Joel Embiid – appear to be intrigued by the idea.

Could J.J. Redick finish out his career with the Philadelphia 76ers after all?

Joel Embiid and J.J. Redick have a very good relationship.

Initially signed away from Doc Rivers’ LA Clippers on a very lucrative one-year, $23 million contract, Redick came to the Philadelphia 76ers with a lot to prove and immediately formed an elite offensive attack paired up with Joel Embiid in the pick-and-pop two-man game. When Embiid needed an outlet to get the ball out of a crowded painted area, Redick was his favorite target, and even when he didn’t have the ball in his hands, the pride of Duke found a way to impact the game with his off-ball movement screens.

Upon arriving in Philadelphia, Redick boldly stated that he would love to finish out his career playing for Brett Brown at the Wells Fargo Center, and over his two-year run in red, white, and blue, his connection with Embiid only grew stronger, with JoJo boldly declaring that he wished that his backcourt buddy was 24 so they could play together for his entire career instead of, well, read the quote yourself here.

That, unfortunately, didn’t happen. Elton Brand opted against re-signing Redick in the summer of 2019, the second member of his 2018-19 starting lineup he let leave the city, and opted instead to roll with rebounded non-shooter Josh Richardson as his new number two guard. While that decision ultimately proved fruitless for all parties involved, Richardson was transformed into Seth Curry and eventually James Harden – a move akin to trading a red paper clip up to a house.

But with Harden inbound, the Sixers find themselves in a relatively unusual spot. They were already light-ish on shooting even with Curry playing for his father-in-law but now, with Steph’s brother looking very unhappy in his new home up I-95, the team could use a legit upgrade in the floor spacing department.

Enter Sixers Twitter, who took it upon themselves to call upon Redick to renounce ESPN and return to the association in a red, white, and blue uniform once more. While I’m sure this sort of thing happens fairly often when a playoff team is looking for a shooter, this particular story is only a story because Redick liked many of the pleas, as did his former/potentially future teammate.

Could Redick, roughly nine months into his retirement, break out the basketball sneaks and retake the court once more? I mean probably not, but hey, it wouldn’t be totally unprecedented or the worst idea either. So far this season, many players who have been out of the league for some time, from Joe Johnson to Justin Andreson, Nik Stauskas, and Greg Monroe, have returned to the court due to the desperate search for 10-day contract players at the start of January. Granted, most of those players were still playing basketball in some form and were thus in playing shape, but maybe Redick, too, has been putting up shots in his Brooklyn home and could conceivably return to the court with a few weeks notice.

If the buyout market is particularly light or a player they like gets snatched up on a better offer, could we see Redick back in his old 17 jersey once more?

I guess we will have to see.

If I would have told you a year ago today that Ben Simmons would not only sit out the better part of a season but that Daryl Morey would be able to secure the services of James Harden for a fraction of the package he offered Houston, you’d have thought I was crazy. And yet, here we are, with Ben Simmons a member of the Brooklyn Nets, and James Harden the Philadelphia 76ers’ new 1 player (literally, it’s his number). If all of that can happen in one calendar year, I’m not counting out a J.J. Redick un-retirement, especially after he called leaving Philadelphia the biggest mistake of his career. In a limited role as a spot-up shooter, there’s a lot of upside in a Redick reunion.