A little over a year after blasting the Kings for trading away “their best player” Tyrese Haliburton for Domantas Sabonis, NBA analyst JJ Redick is apologizing for his take.
“I just want to be accountable for some things I said at the trade deadline last year,” Redick said on his podcast “The Old Man and the Three” on Monday. “In the context of the trade deadline, I didn’t like the trade. I should have not used the word ‘malpractice’ and I apologize for that.
“I apologize to the Sacramento Kings fan base and I apologize for that to Monte McNair. This trade has turned into a win-win.”
That’s a complete 180 from what Redick said last year after the blockbuster trade as even his demeanor and projection shifted. The formal apology became a 27-minute-and-20-second-long video of Redick acknowledging he was wrong.
Last season, a very perplexed and infuriated Redick went on ESPN to sound off on Sacramento after the trade. He later went on his podcast to further double down on the Kings and the trade.
“If we look at counting stats, yes De’Aaron Fox averages more points, I understand that,” Redick said on his podcast last February. “There’s really no statistical measure that you can look at this season that doesn’t say Tyrese Haliburton has been the best player for the Kings.
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“All of the all-encompassing advanced stats, single metric stats, who’s the best player? It’s been Tyrese. And the second-best player on the team for the Kings this year has been Harrison [Barnes]. That is a fact. I don’t give a f–k how many points a guy averages. That doesn’t mean s–t. Tyrese Haliburton plays basketball exactly how basketball should be played.”
To be fair, the remainder of the Kings’ 2021-22 season didn’t do them any justice as Sabonis played in only 15 games.
They finished 5-10 with Sabonis before he was inactive for Sacramento’s final nine contests. But that was all before a series of game-changing moves made by the Kings in the offseason.
Sacramento brought in Mike Brown, added pieces to the puzzle like Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk, drafted rookie Keegan Murray and Fox and Sabonis leading the charge. As a result, the Kings are now a top-four seed in the West and on the verge of snapping an NBA-record 16-year playoff drought.
“This offense is the No. 1 offense in the league, historical offense,” Redick said. “It is so fun to watch. And so much of that has been the offseason. But I was wrong, and I’ll acknowledge that.
“I love watching this team play.”
Oh, how quickly things can change in the NBA.
Redick isn’t the only member of the national media recently to admit the hype around the Kings is legit. We’ve seen figures like Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins showing some love to Sacramento in recent weeks.
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But Redick went further than just apologizing, he also said Sacramento has a “good chance” of ending up in the Western Conference finals if it nabs the No. 2 seed over the Memphis Grizzlies.
He knows what it takes to make a deep playoff push, and believes Fox is fully capable of taking the Kings there, adding that the first-time All-Star has been “f--king awesome” in clutch time this season.
While Redick isn't ready to predict an NBA Finals appearance and win this season for the Kings, he's willing to bet that the team will be "tough to beat" in the playoffs.
"The Sacramento Kings: one of the best stories in the NBA," Redick said. "I'm super hyped about this team, I cannot wait for playoff games in Sacramento."
And even though Redick is skeptical about the Kings winning it all this year, the conversation surrounding the Kings certainly has come a long way.