As has been noted with abandon in this space of late (really, even I'm not sure where all the O-Town-bashin' came from; sincerest apologies to respected counterpart Ben Q Rock over at Third Quarter Collapse), the Orlando Magic are no longer a part of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Now, one of Orlando's more high-profile reserves appears ready to push his way out of the picture down south.
As reported by the Orlando Sentinel's Brian Schmitz:
[J.J.] Redick, the club's 2006 first-round pick out of Duke who has played sparingly, requested in early January that the Magic deal him.
"I want to play. There were a lot of things that were said last summer and in the preseason, you know, and I thought I was going to play. It didn't happen," Redick said.
"I'm certainly not going to sit there and hear the same stuff and think I'm going to get the same results. I'm going to put some of this on myself to get better, but there's got to be an opportunity for me to get on the court."
It's always a pleasure to hear the post-elimination complaining start, but with that said, it would be nice to see the former collegiate star get a more complete shot.
Redick isn't a particularly versatile player, but big-time shooters who stretch the floor for their teammates certainly are not devoid of significant value in this league. The man was a huge deal at one of the nation's top collegiate programs, and in his limited opportunities as a pro, his shooting numbers certainly haven't been terrible. Redick had a true shooting of 56.9 percent in each of his first two seasons (42.2 percent from the field, 39.0 from deep, 86.2 at the line), and though his minutes dropped precipitously from 14.8 to 8.1 per game in those two seasons, Redick actually picked up his per-minute production. He averaged 16.2 points per 40 minutes a year ago and 20.3 this season.
While the sample sizes aren't huge, those numbers would at the very least seem to merit a chance for Redick to show a bit more in extended time. He needs to do what he can to develop the rest of his game to make it more palatable for the NBA level, but Redick can definitely still fill it up. Be it in Orlando or elsewhere, I'll be curious to see what this guy can do if given a more prolonged chance at significant floor time.