Getty Cam Reddish might be tough to trade.
The New York Knicks have removed Cam Reddish from their rotation, and they’ve seen a bit of success after doing so.
Obviously, this can’t all be pinned on Reddish, but coach Tom Thibodeau believes the team is better off not playing him, and if the wins start coming then it’s tough to argue with him.
Reddish is a former lottery pick who still boasts a lot of upside, and that’s one of the reasons he’s still in the league. Despite never getting a true shot to realize his potential, Reddish still has some fans around the association, and SNY’s Ian Begley reports there are teams interested in adding him to the roster.
“Regardless, several teams have expressed interest in trading for Reddish since the Knicks acquired him in January 2022,” he reported. “The Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks are among the teams who reached out to New York in that span.”
While it seems like championship contenders are the ones most interested in adding Reddish, Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz doesn’t believe that should be the case.
Reddish Shouldn’t Go to a Contender?
Reddish is just 23 years old despite being in the fourth year of his NBA career, so he’s still quite young in the grand scheme of things. If he’s looking to realize his potential, he’s likely best suited on a team where he can get heavy playing time, which could be part of the reason Swartz thinks he should avoid going to a championship contender.
“While it’s entirely believable that veteran squads like the Lakers, Heat and Bucks would want a young, two-way wing to add to their rotation, Reddish doesn’t project as a good fit for any of them,” he wrote. “Teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic would be far better destinations.”
That thought process makes a lot of sense because it’s tough to imagine a world where Reddish brings something to the table for championship teams but he can’t do the same thing to a Knicks squad that’s not even guaranteed to make the playoffs.
Reddish still has time to turn his career around, and while it doesn’t look like he’ll be doing it with the Knicks, doing it with a team like the Spurs seems to be more likely than the Lakers or Bucks.
Lakers Seem Interested
Building on Begley’s report, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports the Lakers have discussed trades that would see Reddish and Evan Fournier join the team.
“The Lakers are prioritizing shooting in their conversations with teams, and have discussed packages including salaries and a protected first-round pick for Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic, league sources, who were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, tell The Athletic,” Charania reported. “They’ve also discussed concepts involving New York’s Cam Reddish and Evan Fournier, sources said.”
Fournier and Reddish are both out of New York’s rotation, so getting anything in return for them would be good for the team, but it remains to be seen if it’ll happen. The Lakers don’t have a ton of assets to give up, and with Russell Westbrook flourishing in a sixth man role, it’s not clear if they’ll even want to include him in a deal to match salaries anymore.