Former Los Angeles Clippers guard JJ Redick signed a one-year, $23 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers this summer. He spoke with Alex Kennedy about his choice on The HoopsHype Podcast.

One interesting note is that Redick said the Rockets originally offered a four-year deal, but then reduced the number of years to three. During the conversation around the 16-minute mark, Redick explains what happened:

“They offered four [years] and then they went three. Daryl [Morey] always has a million things going on, like in A Beautiful Mind with all of the stuff written on the chalkboard. I’m sure he had four or five deals out there [he was working on]. The day before free agency, I thought it was a four-year deal. Chris Paul and I talked for about 30 minutes the night before free agency started. I wanted to go there. “[It didn’t work out] – some of it was numbers and some of it was other factors like relocating the family and – I hate to say this – but you never know with Daryl and how he operates. A three-year deal could really be a six-month deal if you get dealt at the trade deadline for a superstar as part of a package of six.”

Originally, contract length was the most important factor for Redick. He joked that he “would have played in Alaska” if he was offered a four-year, max deal.

Redick revealed that the Brooklyn Nets offered a two-year deal with a “respectable” number, but he then decided to go with a shorter agreement.

While he will face free agency again next summer, he said he would prefer to stay with the Sixers – though he does understand things can change in the NBA.

“It is the ideal scenario … I also understand given their cap situation and given the age of their core that even if I do stay for two or three years, it may only be on one-year deals.”

Redick said he also had a chance to join the Miami Heat if they didn’t sign Gordon Hayward, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to wait on Hayward and put off signing for that long.

Before he signed with Philadelphia, he told Sixers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo that he did not intend to sign a one-year deal. However, he changed his mind and he says he understands that the Sixers want to keep their cap flexibility so that they can potentially attract a superstar free agent down the road.

Toward the end of the podcast, Redick said he thinks Philadelphia could end up becoming an attractive destination for superstar free agents in 2018 and 2019 due to the team’s cap flexibility and the possibility that they could have one or more stars if Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz and/or Dario Saric reach their full potential.

That’s why he ultimately decided to sign the one-year deal with Philly, saying that the opportunity to play with this young core was “too good” to pass up.