NBA Free Agency 2017: 20 best players available
By John Buhler
J.J. Redick
Shooting Guard, Los Angeles Clippers
It’s inevitable. The Los Angeles Clippers team we’ve come to know and largely hate these last few years will probably be no more. While point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin could very well be coming back into the fold, it seems obvious that shooting guard J.J. Redick has become too expensive for the Clippers brass.
Though he will be 33-years of age next season, Redick is an elite 3-point shooter and could start at the two guard on an elite team. Redick has shown in the last four years with the Clippers that he can be the third or fourth-best player on a contending team. He has averaged 15. 8 points on 46.6 percent shooting from the field, making 44.0 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
The problem is that he will absolutely make more than the $7,377,500 he made in the final year of his four-year deal with the Clippers. Griffin and Paul will get paid before Redick does. Then again, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is the wealthiest owner in basketball. Ballmer could pay a ridiculous premium to keep the band together, but when has it been enough?
Redick will probably be looking for a three-year deal with a player option for the fourth, worth at least $40 million over the lifetime of the contract. He may love playing in Los Angeles for the Clippers, as they were the team that finally let him start regularly. However, Redick is frankly worth too much to go back to Los Angeles on a fair market deal. There is a great chance that he goes East this summer.