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The Phoenix Suns have signed former All-Star guard Michael Redd, the team announced today. According to the Associated Press, it is “a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum of about $1.3 million.”
“Michael Redd has a proven pedigree as a first-rate NBA scorer,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “He will work with our renowned training staff to get into basketball shape. When he is ready to play, Michael will be a welcome addition to our team.”
An 11-year NBA veteran, Redd developed from an undervalued second-round pick into one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA over the last decade. A 6-6, 220-pound guard, he was originally the 43rd overall pick (second round) of the 2000 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, with whom he spent all 11 of his professional seasons. Redd joins the Suns with career averages of 20.0 points, one of only 12 active players averaging 20 or more, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 578 games (427 starts). Redd is a career 44.9-percent shooter overall, including 38.3 percent from three-point range, and owns 1,003 career threes, one of just nine players in NBA history to make 1,000 three-pointers with a single team.
Injuries have destroyed Redd’s career in recent years. He played just 53 games for the Bucks in 2006-07, 72 games the following season, but just 33 games in 2008-09, 18 games in 2009-10, and just 10 games in 2010-11.
An All-Star and All-NBA Third Team selection in 2004, Redd has ranked in the top-11 in the NBA in scoring on five different occasions (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), and averaged 20 or more points in six-straight seasons from 2003-09. In fact, only 10 NBA players scored more total points in that span, a list that includes Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett and Joe Johnson. A former Eastern Conference Player of the Month (January 2004) and two-time Player of the Week (Dec. 3, 2006; Dec. 31, 2006) Redd increased his scoring average in each of his first seven NBA campaigns, including a career-high 26.7-point average in 2006-07, fifth-best in the league overall.
A highly-regarded outside shooter, Redd was selected as a member of the “Redeem Team,” the gold-medal winning U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Redd played in a total of 61 games over the last three seasons after tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee on two separate occasions in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. He returned to play the final 10 games of the 2010-11 season, averaging 4.4 points in 13.4 minutes with Milwaukee.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Redd was a three-year standout at Ohio State University where he averaged 19.6 points and 6.2 rebounds and was named Honorable Mention All-America as a sophomore and a junior.
