JJ Redick signed with the New Orleans Pelicans this off-season for a two year $26.5 million contract. Redick is among the league’s best threats from three point range with a career average of 41.3% from deep, which will help space the floor for some of the weaker or developing shooters on the Pelicans. So JJ Redick’s main job will be to space the court, but should he start or come off the bench? Let’s look at it from both sides.
There has been a lot of chatter recently about if the Pelicans should start JJ Redick over Lonzo Ball or Brandon Ingram to provide a quick bucket for the starting rotation. If JJ Redick were to start, the Pelicans would move Lonzo or Brandon into the sixth man role, probably alternating them in that role depending on the match-up in the opposing team’s starting five. With Redick in the starting five, that starting rotation can be lethal on both the fast break and in the half-court. However, the second unit would lose a crucial amount of shooting, especially if Lonzo is the sixth man with only a 31.5% career three-point percentage. So that would almost certainly lower the half-court opportunities for the second unit unless someone else steps up as a knockdown threat from deep.
If Redick were to come off the bench, there is a possibility that he could be in the running for the sixth man of the year, depending on how many minutes he would be allotted. While the starters would play with an extremely up-tempo pace that could make up for the lack of Redick’s shooting, the second unit could play a little slower, allowing players like Frank Jackson and Jahlil Okafor to better acclimate to the league in a half-court offensive set. This experience could allow these players, along with some of the other baby Pelicans, to be more of a threat a few years down the line by having played in different tempos based on the situation.
Redick will contribute and earn his pay either way the coaching staff decides to play him, but he would add much needed leadership and shooting to the second unit that the first unit doesn’t need as much. So Redick would probably help more coming off the bench as the sixth man. Redick will still probably be a part of the Pelicans final five at the end of games, replacing Lonzo Ball except when certain match-ups call for Ball’s defensive prowess more so than Redick’s sharpshooting.
All in all, whatever the coaches decide to do will most likely work because Redick is a proven professional and could thrive in either role. It will be exciting to see what the Pelicans do with Redick and as a whole.
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