JJ Redick has not been particularly diplomatic when assessing the summer work of the executives of his team, Los Angeles Clippers. The Los Angeles team has not taken well the departure of DeAndre Jordan to Dallas Mavericks after their disappointing end of the season, in which they let slip a 3-1 lead against the Rockets, with an incredible collapse in the sixth game, when they let the Rockets come back from 19 points down in the final quarter, on their home court.
The Clippers have acquired Lance Stephenson, an unstable player, and veteran Paul Pierce, but losing their defensive cornerstone seems like too big of a burden for a team that is literally without centers after trading Spencer Hawes. The Los Angeles franchise may find it difficult to maintain its contender status: they have few draft picks to negotiate with and have invested more than 70 million in nine players, so they will go over the salary cap and enter the luxury tax, even if that cap increases as rumored, from 67 to 69 million.
Redick made it clear that his team has been one of the biggest losers after the madness that has followed the opening of the market: "Failing grade," he repeated several times in a radio interview when asked to rate his team's efforts in the front office. He even asked if he could use "very deficient instead of failing grade": "Our priority was to re-sign DeAndre. And we didn't do it. So unless a miracle happens, our team will be completely different next season."
The shooting guard also made it clear that Jordan was much more than a defensive stalwart: "He was also crucial for us on offense. His screens, his rolls, offensive rebounds... his presence in the paint opened up opportunities for others, or finished plays that Paul set up, or allowed the shooters to be open... He was a crucial player. Losing him clearly deserves a failing grade."