What Impact Can JJ Redick Have On the New Orleans Pelicans?

The veteran that starts his descent into joining teams to provide a “presence” and “voice” in the locker room is one that typically has value derived from their ability to maintain cohesiveness and calm off the court. What they do on the court carries weight, but it’s ancillary in comparison to everything else that they do that impacts the culture of the organization. 

JJ Redick would seem to be the perfect test case for this idea. At 35, he is now one of the oldest players in the league, is now on his 3rd team in four years, and has talked openly about his interest in playing the part of mentor. Taking a look at the NBA landscape, he is tailor-made for this previously mentioned veteran title. However, Redick has been vital to the past few teams he has been on by providing gravity with his shooting that has made him a necessity on the court. He was prioritized by the New Orleans Pelicans for providing that cultural tone setting, but more importantly for helping the team become competitive immediately. 

That competitiveness ideally comes to bear this very season. According to Jacob Goldstein of the Basketball Index, the Pelicans are projected to win 46 games next season. That figure would be good enough to get them into the Western Conference playoffs, an impressive feat for a team that just traded away a generational superstar. That number can be debated, but most analysts would agree that the Pelicans could be in line to make a run at one of the last couple of playoff spots. In doing so they’ll need a boost from the team’s offense, something Redick is well equipped to do. 

Redick has been fortunate enough to be a part of very good squads. Over the past five years, the organizations he has played for have averaged over 52 wins and have never failed to make the playoffs. When teams are compiled of players like Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Joel Embiid, etc., they are likely to be talented, and excellent offensively. Because of that, each unit that Redick has been a part of over the past five years has been in the top-10 in the league in offensive rating, except one. During that season (2017-18) the Philadelphia 76ers were tied for 11th (108.5) in the NBA in offense. While Redick took the floor, they had a 109.4 mark, which would have placed them in the top-10 in the league if he was a team onto himself. 

So, fans of the game can comprehend the effect that Redick has on a basketball court. Curling around screens and dragging defenders tight to his body allows the four other players on his team room to operate with space to shoot and drive to the basket. Space in the hyped up 3-point world still holds tremendous value, especially for those elite shooters that still command undivided attention from the opposition. It held even more importance to a typically cramped up 76ers offense. These are the plus-minus rankings of Redick over the past five years, and his rankings in the league for each season.

Those ratings showcase an integral piece of a team’s offensive cog. It’ll be interesting to see how Philadelphia is able to fair and how New Orleans will be able to utilize Redick’s talent. The 76ers will have solid shooters that can space the floor this year, but may feel the effects of losing an elite shooter on the rest of the team’s spacing since both Simmons and Embiid will still be logging major minutes.

The Pelicans may have been trying to answer similar questions if they didn’t pique the interest of Redick. The team has plenty of lineups that can demonstrate a lack of proper spacing, making the addition of Redick essential to a balanced offensive ecosystem. Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes, Derrick Favors, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball could all conceivably be projected to be below-average or worse shooters for next year. That leaves a lot of pressure on Redick, Josh Hart, Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun Moore to sink the open shots they get when they are open.

The Pelicans will have to rely on that 3-point shooting to get them to the playoffs, if that is their goal. Early comparisons have unfairly weighted Williamson to some well-known basketball players, but the importance to take out of those comparisons is the team construction that would work best for a bulldozing power forward with strong passing chops and sky-high athleticism. When Williamson isn’t handling the ball there is a good chance that Ball and Ingram will be, two players that equally need talented shooting around them.  They need a lights-out shooter, one that placed 5th in the league last year in 3-point percentage for players that took over six attempts per game to be a fulcrum of the offense. They need a shooting guard that has posted a 60 true shooting percentage in each of the past five seasons, a feat only two other guards (James Harden and Steph Curry) have been able to match. They need JJ Redick.

Looking at the Pelicans last year makes no sense because of the talent infusion that has occurred over the summer. This team is completely different in nearly every single way. But what we can take (a bit) from Redick is the difference he has had once arriving to his new team. Context is essential in these discussions as we know that the 76ers made a jump during the 2017-18 season because of better talent, besides just Redick. But with the addition of Redick during that season they jumped from 30th in offense to 11th. The Los Angeles Clippers jumped from 4th to 1st with his addition in 2013-14. 

Once again, other factors play a part in all of this. The Pelicans will neither live nor die by the addition of Redick, but he sure can help. And that difference could be what pushes this offense to the next level, and into the playoffs.

Source: Forbes.com

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