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In the wake of the shocking deal Wednesday morning that saw Chris Paul opt in to the final year of his contract with the LA Clippers and promptly get traded to the Houston Rockets, Brian Windhorst of ESPN went on Sportscenter to drop a report on one of the pieces of fallout from the deal.
"I haven't even mentioned the name JJ. Redick," Windhorst said (as transcribed by Jack Maloney of CBS Sports). "Redick is walking. He is not gonna be back. That was the worst kept secret in the NBA for the last couple of months."
If the NBA's best podcaster and one of its best shooters is truly on the move, he won't lack for suitors. Every team could use shooting, and plenty of contenders will come calling for Redick.
The Lakers could use a dose of long-range accuracy as well, which is surely what Jordan Clarkson was thinking about when he tweeted this Wednesday morning:
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Clarkson promptly deleted his well-time recruiting effort, and it's possible he meant to send it as a DM or an overeager family member got a hold of his phone.
It's much less possible that the Lakers could actually sign Redick. The team can have around $19 million in cap space this summer if it wants, but the issue is the Lakers not wanting to commit long-term money to preserve their "sacred" cap space in 2018.
Redick — as amazing as he is — is not the type of player they'd likely break that commitment for. Los Angeles could try to entice him with a gigantic one-year deal, but it's far more likely Redick would be interested in going to a winning team instead.
Good job, good effort JC, but this one doesn't seem likely.
Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.