JJ Redick Sees Opportunity To Mentor The Young New Orleans Pelicans Team With Jrue Holiday

JJ Redick hoped that he would retire as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. The 35-year-old three-point specialist even bared his plans with team owner Josh Harris, but it just didn't pan out.

However, Redick just found a new team as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans. His recruiter? None other than the scrappy Jrue Holiday, and it wasn't about the pitches and the promises going forward. For JJ, it was all about the opportunity to mentor a young rebuilding team.

According to Bill Simmons of The Ringer, Redick told him that Jrue is "one of my favorite players in the NBA." He added that Jrue is a player that "I've only respected and admired as a person and as a player for a long time."

A big part of getting that possibility to play for the Pelicans "was that opportunity to play with Jrue," quipped Redick.

The prolific shooting guard has been catching fire as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. For the past two seasons, he's averaged 17.6 points per game, while shooting with a 45‬% field goal percentage. He's also shot the 3-ball with a 40.85% accuracy and has been steady at the line with 89.9%‬ free throw clip.

JJ inked a two-year, $26.5 million deal with New Orleans after his former team failed to commit to a long term contract. The 76ers just signed Tobias Harris for a five year $190 million deal while extending Ben Simmons rookie contract for five years with a $170 million.

They also made a $109 million four year contract to former Boston Celtic stand-out center, Al Horford. With such big signees, Philadelphia might have had to release Redick to avoid the cap.

Redick will have an outstanding opportunity to play not only with Jrue but also with highly-touted rookies like Zion Williamson and Jaxson Hayes.

Recently JJ Redick created a burner Twitter account to follow the latest NBA news. He said in his The JJ Redick podcast that he made it for updates on free agency.

He added that news and rumors dropped every 10 minutes during the dramatic offseason. It featured some big names including Kawhi Leonard and Paul George going to the Los Angeles Clippers. Other notable ones include Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant joining forces on the Brooklyn Nets, and Anthony Davis landing on the Lakers.

Since then, Redick has deleted the burner account and has backed off the social media platform.