Getty Cam Reddish's clock is ticking.
After giving up former lottery pick Kevin Knox and a first-round pick last season for Cam Reddish, the New York Knicks still haven’t found the right role for him.
Reddish didn’t get a whole lot of playing time after last season’s trade deadline, and he eventually saw his season come to a premature close due to an injury. Fast forward to the preseason, and an injury has once again plagued him, and when he has been playing, it hasn’t always been pretty.
In the second game against the Pacers, Reddish made just a single shot. In the third preseason game, he finished with a team-worst -22 in the nine point loss to the Pacers. He shot 3-10 including a dismal 1-6 from three, so he’s not doing a lot to prove he deserves a bigger role.
On top of all that, there is a looming deadline for Reddish and a potential contract extension, something New York Daily News writer Stefan Bondy calls “unlikely.”
Reddish Deadline Soon
The deadline for the Knicks to extend Cam Reddish is Oct. 17. It’s unlikely to happen, meaning Reddish will become a restricted free agent after the season.
The Knicks have until October 17 to make a decision on extending Reddish, and since he’s not going to get anywhere close to a max contract, or even what RJ Barrett ended up getting, New York might end up letting it pass.
“The deadline for the Knicks to extend Cam Reddish is Oct. 17,” wrote Bondy. “It’s unlikely to happen, meaning Reddish will become a restricted free agent after the season.”
Reddish being a restricted free agent will mean the Knicks have the chance to match any offer he gets in free agency, but that’s also far from guaranteed to happen. Reddish hasn’t been good in the minutes he’s played, and if he rides the bench for this upcoming season, there’s little reason for the team to keep him around.
.@camreddish DANCING AND PRANCING 💯
He does flash some good moves and show why he was a lottery pick in the first place from time to time, but the moments are not often enough.
Add in the fact that he’s currently in a logjam of young players trying to get minutes, and it’s a recipe for disaster for Reddish.
Things Already Weren’t Looking Good for Reddish
The writing was already on the wall for the young forward as Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus predicted Reddish was going to be one of the players that got passed up on for an extension.
“Others do not appear to be priorities, including Cam Reddish (No. 10) with the Knicks, Romeo Langford (No. 14) of the Spurs and Dylan Windler (No. 26) on the Cleveland Cavaliers,” he wrote.
The best case scenario for Reddish is he makes the most out of his playing time going forward which will then be used as a springboard into another pay day, or the Knicks find a trade candidate for him.
Once the regular season rolls around, Reddish’s role will likely shift as the games start to matter. If the preseason is his best chance to prove he deserves minutes with the Knicks, then he’ll need to put on a show in game number four. If that doesn’t happen, it might be a long season for the forward.