NBA

ESPN’s J.J. Redick explains why Mavericks’ inking the return of Seth Curry is a ‘perfect fit’

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The Mavericks were probably the biggest disappointment of the 2022/23 season, finishing with a 38-44 record and missing out on the playoffs, despite the fact that they invested in superstar Kyrie Irving to complete a blockbuster partnership with Luka Doncic.

The Dallas administration felt the need to improve their roster this summer, and among those various trades they decided to reunite with Seth Curry, who already had two previous spells wearing the Mavs’ jersey. The 33-year-old just signed a two-year, $8 million contract after playing the last campaign with the Brooklyn Nets.

In the most recent episode of his own “The Old Man & the Three” podcast, J.J. Redick recognized this acquisition as one of the top under-the-radar signings of this current offseason.

“My first one is, I think, really under-the-radar, even though he’s historically the best three point shooter in terms of percentage in NBA history, and that’s Seth Curry,” the ESPN analyst said.

The season after his stint in Brooklyn, he performed one of his most productive years with the Sixers, averaging 15.0 points and 3.4 assists. During that 2022 summer, the veteran underwent ankle surgery and wasn’t able to participate in his team’s training camp before the start of the past campaign.

“Seth had ankle surgery in May of 2022, and that was when he was coming off the best season of his career. He averaged 15.0 points per game for Philly, averaged just under 15 points per game in the 19 games he played in Brooklyn after the trade, has ankle surgery, comes back after the season has already started, which is always difficult to not have the normal routine, the training camp, the early season, the preseason, all that stuff.

“He had a fine season. Minutes were down. I don’t think he was ever really himself,” Redick explained.

In spite of his latest ankle injury, Redick is impressed by the way Curry remained an efficient three-point shooter

The veteran guard has been putting up the best shooting stats of his career in the last couple of years, despite the fact that he had to recover from his ankle injury in 2022. Former player J.J. Redick admitted he was impressed by his consistency, considering most athletes lose confidence after overcoming a health issue.

“Last season, he still shot 40.5 percent from three. The reason I love this, last time he was in Dallas, which was the 2019-20 season, he shot 45.2 percent from three and averaged a little over 12 points per game,” the analyst said. “He was 48.1 percent on catch and shoot threes and when you think about the way this offense is going to function, it will primarily be pick and roll and ISO. That is what Kyrie does, that is what Luka does.”

In the video above, check out one of Curry’s best-ever performances in Dallas, scoring an outstanding 37 points against the Heat three years ago.

“Having him as one of your spot up shooters, having him maybe even some movement sets, the hand back to Luka coming off a flare screen, like they’re going to figure out ways to use him,” Redick explained. “I don’t know that [Curry] starts, but I think he helps this team. And a couple of things on Dallas, when they made that run to the Western Conference finals two seasons ago, it was primarily with switchable defenders and shooting.”