Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Redick was promised a trade by the New Orleans Pelicans back in November, but they failed to stay true to their word.
Redick specifically pointed to Pelicans chief of basketball operations David Griffin when addressing the ordeal on his Old Man and the Three podcast. Redick added that he had four conversations with Griffin.
“Griff basically says to me, ‘Come down for a month. If you still want to be traded, I give you my word, I’ll get you to a situation that you like,’” Redick said. “… Obviously he did not honor his word.”
Redick said he made it clear he preferred to be moved to a deal closer to his family in New York. Instead, the Pelicans sent him to Dallas.
He said this has nothing to do with the Mavericks or a willingness to play for them.
“(My understanding was) if I was going to be traded, it was going to be a team in the northeast where I was closer to home and I’d be able to see my family for the last two or three months of the season,” Redick said. “Obviously that didn’t happen.
He later added, “I look at the buyout situation not as me just specifically being like, ‘Oh, I’m going to get bought out and go to Brooklyn. I just wanted to be able, on an off day, to go see my family and to be within sort of driving distance. … Geographically, you can sort of think of the teams where that’s the case.”
Redick, 35, is averaging 8.7 points on the season and is expected to offer some perimeter shooting to a lineup that includes standout Luka Doncic and forward Kristaps Porzingis.
You can watch his entire take in the video below.
