New Orleans Pelicans: Redick finding groove, could pop off big numbers

Playing well in his first official game as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, it’s just a matter of time before JJ Redick has a huge night.

The New Orleans Pelicans took a 0-1 start to the season on Tuesday night but took a lot of positives away from their overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors. While many of the new Pels had a good first night, the team finding a way to make JJ Redick dangerous was encouraging to observe.

Against Toronto, Redick was one of the most consistent scorers on the team, providing 27 minutes in the overtime loss.

Redick shot 4-of-6 from three-point range, scoring 16 points with 2 rebounds and 1 assist. While the team would benefit from Redick taking more shots, he was causing the Raptors’ defense all kinds of problems on switches.

Throughout the night, it seemed like Redick could be counted on for shots, as the Toronto defense caused a lot of younger Pelicans player trouble, plus did a great job controlling the paint.

If he plays as well as he did against Toronto for the remainder of the season, he’ll be well worth the 2-yr., $26.5 million contract he signed this offseason with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Preseason didn’t yield the finest results for the 13th year player. It caused some worry about his fit with the Pelicans.

Still seemingly finding his footing in new stripes, Redick averaged just 6 points in 4 games, though he shot 50% from three. He got going against the New York Knicks in the final preseason game, however, scoring 14 points on 3-of-4 from three-point range in 20 minutes.

Redick sited one of his primary reseasons for coming to the New Orleans Pelicans was his interest in playing alongside Jrue Holiday. The two seem to be just now finding a way to play off of each other, an encouraging sign moving forward for New Orleans.

The New Orleans Pelicans are going to need Redick to provide volume scoring to boost their young players.

This team needed to add veterans to support their younger players this season and Redick was a heck of an addition to that department. He’s never missed the playoffs, he’s a high work ethic player, and he’s a guy who’s had a huge impact on the teams he’s joined.

Only finding his rhythm with the New Orleans Pelicans when he joined the starting lineup against the Knicks, Redick seems set to create a lot of offense throughout the season.

Redick doesn’t need to be the focal point of an offense to get big numbers.

In fact, he’s more valuable when he can hide among solid scorers, allowing him to run all over the place to create open looks from three-point range, where he’s a 41.3% career shooter.

Able to create in short space, Redick hit 35.4% from three last season with defenders playing “tight” (within 2-to-4) defense. As long as Redick can set his feet, he’s lethal. It does take a bit longer for Redick to go through his shooting motion, but it’s one of the deadliest jump shots in the game when he gets clean looks.

When the New Orleans Pelicans host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, JJ Redick will have a favorable matchup.

Last season with the 76ers, Redick averaged 23 points and 3.5 rebounds against the Mavericks. Neither of his projected defensive matchups, either Luka Dončić or Tim Hardaway Jr., has particular prowess evading screens, which Redick routinely uses to victimize his opponent.

If Redick can have a big night from three-point range, the Pelicans should be able to find enough scoring to give the Mavericks a lot of trouble on the offensive end of the floor.

The New Orleans Pelicans posted a fairly good showing against the defending NBA Champions and were certainly boosted by the ever-potent Redick.

Lacking Zion Williamson to start the season, the Pelicans are going to need to creative offense and find ways to win if they still want to push for the playoffs. Redick can take a sizable role in keeping this offense going while they await the arrival of Zion.

Redick gives the New Orleans Pelicans depth and legitimacy you can only obtain by adding one of the finest sharpshooters in the history of the league. If he gives the Pelicans the same boost he added for the Philadelphia 76ers‘ young core, this team could be good in a hurry.