The Magic must make a decision on whether or not to match the Chicago Bulls’ offer for J.J. Redick. Last week, the Bulls signed Redick to an offer sheet worth $19 million over 3 years. I’ll keep your Redick news updated throughout the day right here.
Update (9:30 pm): Tim Povtak of NBA Fanhouse is reporting the Magic will be keeping J.J. Redick and cites sources to back him up.
"The Orlando Magic have decided to retain restricted free agent guard J.J. Redick, matching the three-year, $19 million offer sheet he received from the Chicago Bulls last week.The Magic will make their intention known Friday – the last possible day — but NBA sources familiar with the front-office thinking of the Magic confirmed their decision Thursday afternoon.“They aren’t letting go of J.J.,” said the source."
Update (10:50 am): Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel has done some research that leads him to believe the Magic will retain J.J. Redick.
"As of Thursday afternoon, Smith hasn’t prepared key players in the franchise about other free-agent options at the NBA minimum to take Redick’s place.The Magic can not replace Redick with a player who makes what he will make with the Bulls.The club only will have a minimum exception, starting at $1.3 million, and the biannual exception at about $2 million.And you would think by now that if another option to Redick was the course of action, other members of the organization would have heard about it.From what I have been able to gather, Smith will match for Redick because he wants to protect the asset as he did in the case of another restricted free agent, center Marcin Gortat, and he doesn’t want to lose Redick to an East rival."
Schmitz wonders if Redick is worth the money. He goes over the pros and cons here.
George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel thinks Redick is a keeper.
"Despite the luxury tax implications, the Magic should keep Redick. It’s not like they haven’t overpaid for other players. See contracts involving Rashard Lewis and Marcin Gortat.Redick has improved considerably since his rookie season in 2006-07, and he’s one of the good “locker room guys” who won’t go off on a petulant snit on his Twitter account. He’s also chipped in solid work defensively, witness the nice job he did on Celtics guard Ray Allen during the 2009 playoffs.Oh, and assuming the Magic do not pick up the option on Vince Carter next season, guess who would be the natural fit as the starting shooting guard, saving the Magic about 10 million in the process?Redick would be more than ready by then. Anybody out there think that Carter was a better player in the playoffs? Redick sure ate up a lot of his minutes, didn’t he?"
You can read that story here.
Ownership has the final say on any decision.
"If General Manager Otis Smith decides he wants to match the Bulls’ three-year, $19 million offer sheet for Redick, Smith will have to receive final approval from Magic Owner Rich DeVos and President Bob Vander Weide.“With pretty much every decision that we’ve made here as it relates to this basketball team, ownership is heavily involved. I think I’ve said all along that if we don’t have the best owners in all of pro sports, I’d be hard-pressed to find one, because they’ve stepped to the plate every time I’ve asked them to step up to the plate,” Smith said. “I’m sure this decision won’t come easy, but I think they’ll step up to the plate if we ask them to do it now.”Re-signing Redick would send the Magic even deeper into the NBA luxury tax. The Magic will have to pay a $1 penalty for every $1 they spend next season in team payroll above $70.3 million. After their signings of free agents Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson, the Magic’s salary for the 2010-11 season already hovers around $84 million."
Josh Robbins has that story here.
Sam Smith of Bulls.com thinks the Magic will match.
Brian Schmitz wonders if Roger Mason could be Redick’s replacement should the Magic choose not to match.
"Known for hitting some key 3-point shots, Mason’s 3-point prowess slipped as well, from 42 percent in 08-09 to 33 percent last season. But many around the league believe that Mason, 29, is still a capable player and could thrive in a different situation."
You can read that story here.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor on the Fansided Front Page. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).