JJ wants out of Orlando

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3223848

J.J. Redick, sequestered on the Orlando bench for much of the season, has asked his agent, Arn Tellem, to inquire about a trade possibility. But Magic general manager Otis Smith said that right now, there is not much chance of that happening.

"Why would I do that before I've really seen him? So he can do something somewhere else?" Smith said in the Orlando Sentinel. "I think J.J. can play. He has to have patience. It's the worst thing for young guys, having patience. I know. I was that guy [when Smith played in the NBA]."


Redick, the Magic's first-round pick out of Duke in 2006, has played in just 20 games, averaging only 8.3 minutes and 3.7 points. He hasn't received much playing time because coach Stan Van Gundy believes fellow guards Maurice Evans and Keith Bogans are better at defense and rebounding, elements the Magic needs more than Redick's shooting proficiency at this point.


Smith also isn't planning on trading Redick before the Feb. 21 NBA trade deadline because Evans, Bogans and and Keyon Dooling all can become free agents after the season.

"We want to see what's out there," Redick told the Orlando Sentinel. "I want to stay here, but it's been frustrating."


Van Gundy has been upfront with Redick, telling him there wasn't much hope for him getting off the bench the rest of this season. "Right now it would be very hard to fit him in," Van Gundy said. "I know it's also hard to keep sitting him on the bench. . . . Should we be playing him? Right now we're going good so we probably won't disrupt things.

"I think about it all the time. He makes you think about it all the time when you watch practice. I know he's really frustrated because there's not a lot more he can be doing."

Van Gundy said he told Redick to just keep working. "He just has to keep doing what he's doing. There's nothing negative with him. I've got confidence in him and I'm sure he'll help us when it's all over. I just don't know when."

 

not surprised

is anyone surprised that JJR is not playing a lot in the NBA?

 

I'm not. Travis Diener from Marquette is getting more time in the league, and he's white, 6'0" and listed at a very generous 180.

 

Naa I'm not surprised at all. Just like Trajan Langdon I never understood how either became a lottery pick with 2nd round skills (at best.)

 

Somebody's going to have to want him before he can be traded? Any other team want him?

 

Of course not other than maybe slynuts. Used to fight with sly about JJ not being able to do anything else other than shoot, but sly swore he could, that his game was well rounded, yada yada....

 

It was well rounded for the NCAA. Seriously, you are a stupid piece of shit.

 

He became a very well-rounded college player. That's part of what enabled him to become the ACC all-time leading scorer. He does not have the athletic ability to do that in the NBA though.

 

Don't see why he can't have a Steve Kerr or Dell Curry type of career myself. He's not going to be a all-star for sure but with the right team he could be a great sixth man off the bench. I think the Magic are just afraid if they trade him it will blow up in their face.

 

Yeah, I agree he has that type of potential, or a Matt Carroll type. I just think there's no way he should have been a lottery pick (or 13th player in the draft.) It creates a whole set of expectations that Carroll or Curry never faced.

As far as the Magic, I think their statements about the situation are probably accurate. Redick can't provide the perimeter defense that the Magic likely want, but that doesn't mean that with the right talent around him that he can't contribute. That's why they aren't trading him (yet, among other things.)

I'm glad there hasn't been anything said about his back problems, I know that set him back his rookie year.

Of course, if you look at the draft he went 13th in, there wasn't a ton there even at the top.