By Zack Cimini
Notjustagame23@gmail.com

It seemed as if JJ Redick was ready to be labeled as most Duke high profiled college athletes do, and that is a major bust. Often times college powerhouses are built by the coaches too have complimentary players that fit the team perfectly. When Redick was drafted as a high first round pick by the Magic it seemed a pretty fair assessment that Redick was not going to pan out. Similar to Chris Duhon, another former Duke Blue Devil, Redick kept working on his game and improvements began to show here and there.

In the playoffs of 2009 Redick was able to show some toughness to knock down some shots here and there and by playing aggressive defense. Once the Magic signed Vince Carter, Jason Williams, and Matt Barnes it looked as if there would be limited minutes for Redick. When you can shoot the ball like Redick can though a team is going to find minutes for you. With Rashard Lewis’s early season suspension, Jameer Nelson going down to injury, and Jason Williams coming off a year in which he did not play basketball, minutes have arose to a career high average in 24 minutes a game for Redick.

When you enter the NBA and things don’t go your way off the bat it can be hard to remain focused on being that 10th-12th person on your teams rotation. That’s exactly what Redick was, and most of those players buried on benches get maneuvered around their whole career in that same role. Redick is worth a look at including on your fantasy nba teams if you are in a deeper league. He has eclipsed Anthony Johnson in the rotation for coming off the bench. With Jason Williams only playing 25 minutes a game it favors to see Redick likely keep hovering around the 20-24 minutes a game area.

Redick has exploded for a 27 point game already this year, and is coming off another game of over 20 points, scoring 20 against the Jazz. He is shooting the ball just about as good as any guard in the NBA right now. Percentage wise he is shooting 48 percent overall and 46 percent from three point range. Great statistics for people hurting in those columns in your rotisserie leagues. Factor in that over his last seven games he is averaging 12 points a game and two triples as well, while shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc.