The Sixers have made their intentions for the summer very clear: secure a top-tier free agent to help them compete for a championship.
JJ Redick is now a desired free agent in his own right, but even he knows the Sixers have a more royal outlook.
"I'm not just speaking about the 76ers here, just in general, if you have the chance to get LeBron James, you go for it and you figure out the rest later," Redick said on The Bill Simmons podcast Wednesday.
The Sixers' potential addition of James could mean Redick would be squeezed out, but the shooting guard understands it's a part of the business.
"My dad, when I was growing up, he said this to me all the time and I say this to my 4-year-old all the time too: it's not always about you," Redick said. "In my career, it is about me and my career, but I recognize that in this sport, in a team sport with all these complicated cap things and a front office's desire to do certain things, timelines, age and all that stuff, I recognize it's not always about me. It's not about me. I'm OK with that."
If Redick doesn't suit up in a Sixers uniform again, he admitted that this past season was one of the best experiences of his career. And that it was among the most bitter endings in his 12-year stint in the league.
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"I would say, as of right now, it was as disappointing as 2010 and 2015," Redick said. "When you feel you leave a little bit on the table, it's harder to deal with. … The playoffs and sort of this trophy, this prize that you're chasing that you think about, that you dream about, when you're on a team where you feel like you have a chance, and it ends, and it ends abruptly. Two Wednesdays ago, you're thinking we have a home game Friday night. You're playing for a home game Friday night. You're planning to play Game 7 in Boston on Sunday. And then it just ends.
"It hits you really hard. When I think about the emotions in the locker room after those losses, Game 5 in Boston was like Game 7 in Houston in '15 and Game 6 in Boston in 2010 when we lost in the Eastern Conference Finals."
To hear Redick talk more about the series with the Celtics, his intense friendship with T.J. McConnell and much more, click here for the full podcast.
