Knicks ‘Could Still Save Face’ After Disastrous Trade: Analyst

Getty Cam Reddish played sparingly with the Knicks.

The New York Knicks were rather quiet at last season’s trade deadline with Cam Reddish being the only player acquired by the team.

Kevin Knox and a first-round pick were given up to acquire the former lottery pick which indicated the team was planning big things for him, but that just wasn’t the case.

Reddish didn’t find much playing time with the Knicks, and reports quickly came out that coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t on board with the trade.

Going into the new season, Reddish still appears to be buried on the depth chart, but that can change if moves are made such as trading away Evan Fournier or Julius Randle.

Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz calls the move one of the “most regrettable” trades made in the last three seasons, but says there’s still a way for the Knicks to salvage it.

Knicks Could Still Turn Things Around

Playing Reddish will go a long way into salvaging the trade, but that’s far from a guarantee. It’s tough to fight your way into a rotation when the coach doesn’t want to play you, but Swartz says that’ll be the easiest path forward for the Knicks to save face.

“The Knicks could still save face if they move (or at least bench) Fournier and open up a larger role for Reddish,” he said. “As is, giving up a first-round pick for a part-time rotation player about to enter free agency next summer was a huge mistake.”

Fortunately for the Knicks, they do have a stable for draft picks for the foreseeable future, so giving up one for Reddish is a mistake, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s not likely this caused the Knicks to miss out on Donovan Mitchell as New York still had plenty to offer, but Swartz did float that as a possibility.

“The Knicks could have used that extra first-rounder in a trade offer to acquire a certain shooting guard from the Utah Jazz, one they ultimately whiffed on,” he wrote.

Reddish is only 23 years old, so there’s plenty of time for him to get things figured out before his career wraps up, but it might be better for both sides if it’s somewhere else.

Teams Have Shown Interest in Reddish

Moving Reddish shouldn’t be difficult to do for the Knicks if they want that to happen because of the fact that he’s so young and on an affordable contract. Reddish will want to go anywhere he can build value, so that would likely be a team that can offer him a lot of playing time.

Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat have been floated, but it’s not clear how much playing time he could get in places like that as those are both teams that have championship aspirations.

Perhaps a more realistic option would be the San Antonio Spurs, something Sports Illustrated’s Grant Afseth suggested as a possibility.

The Spurs aren’t expected to be good by any stretch of the imagination, and they are thought by many to be chasing Victor Wembanyama in next year’s draft, so Reddish might find his best chance in San Antonio.