Duke basketball: JJ Redick could retire as a champion

A Duke basketball great appears to be playing the end of his career by ear.

As things stand, it looks as though Duke basketball legend JJ Redick is simply soaking up the good life as a popular podcaster and charitable multimillionaire. Last season, in part due to a heel injury and, well, you know, old age, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard failed to average double-digit points for the first time in 11 years.

And after the March trade that sent him from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Dallas Mavericks, Redick finished out his contract mostly parked at the end of the bench.

But according to the 37-year-old’s recent comments on his “The Old Man and the Three” podcast, he has sights on at least one more season in the NBA. At the same time, Redick is in no hurry to latch on with a franchise for what will likely be his last ride in the league:

“My focus right now is just hanging with my family and enjoying the offseason. And we’ll make a decision on next season — what team, what city, etc. — probably sometime in the next two or three months. But you know, I would say, pretty much definitively, I won’t be in a training camp to start the season. That’s not going to happen.”

What could happen is Redick joining an NBA Blue Devil group and then riding off into the sunset next summer as a retired champion.

Plans to team up with another Duke basketball product or two?

JJ Redick lives in Brooklyn and has expressed a desire to stay there, thereby implying the New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets would be the unrestricted free agent’s ideal choices.

Now, neither looks to have much room. Yet between injuries and roster cuts, the perfect spot for Redick may well free up alongside 2018-19 Duke basketball one-and-done RJ Barrett and his up-and-coming Knicks or the loaded Nets, now including a pair of former Blue Devils in Kyrie Irving and Jahlil Okafor.

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Meanwhile, Redick seems willing to wait for perhaps one of those two options. After all, he has hinted on his podcast that he may spend a chunk of the upcoming season patiently watching for an irresistible opportunity to pop up, preferably one that involves helping a legit contender close out a title run:

“I’ll join a team at some point this season and finish the year and try to go get a chip.”

That chip, which has eluded JJ Redick both as a Blue Devil and as a pro, would be a fitting topping to the unforgettable sharpshooter’s playing days.