CAM DEAL ALL UPSIDE
Knicks gave up little for Reddish, who at 22 can blossom
ATLANTA — For the Knicks, the acquisition of Cam Reddish broke one streak and maintained another. And both decisions could easily be justified. By dealing Kevin Knox to the Hawks for Reddish, the franchise assured it won’t have re-signed a first-round draft pick off his rookie deal since (drum roll please) Charlie Ward. That was decades ago. But it also became clear that Knox, long before the Reddish trade, wasn’t going to break that streak.
Knox was tossed from the rotation soon after Tom Thibodeau took over, and never quite displayed the motor or intensity necessary to play at a high level defensively. Chosen eighth overall in 2018, he joined a long list of Knicks draft busts.
Then, by including a 2022 pick for Reddish, the Knicks snapped an eight-year streak of not trading a future first rounder. Neither Phil Jackson nor Steve Mills went down that road as executives, preaching the significance of asset accumulation and maintaining flexibility in the wake of the organization’s prior shortsighted decisions (ahem, Isiah Thomas). The last time the Knicks traded a first rounder might give fans PTSD. It was for Andrea Bargnani in 2013.
But this pick for Reddish was heavily protected. It was acquired from the Hornets in last year’s draft and can’t fall in the top 18 in 2022, or the top 16 in 2023, or the top-14 in 2024 or 2025.
So it’s a low-risk trade for a player (Reddish) with high upside. Still, according to Hawks GM Travis Schlenk, it was the best return an exhaustive search uncovered for Reddish, who carries enough defensive deficiencies to question whether he’ll translate into a winning player.
“My job is to get the best value I can for Cam Reddish, we certainly canvased the league. I had conversations, some in-depth conversations with a lot of different teams,” Schlenk said. “We feel like this pick from Charlotte, even though it does have protections, my analytics group said there’s a 90% chance over the next four years we get this pick, so we feel this is a real firstround pick. It’s not a fake first-round pick. The one thing I will say about draft picks — everyone values draft picks. Every team might not value a player, but 29 other teams will value a real first round draft pick.”
Schlenk’s words were reassuring to a Hawks fanbase that had high hopes for Reddish. From the Knicks’ side, the process or thinking behind the trade is unknown because team president Leon Rose doesn’t speak publicly. And there are legitimate questions about how this is going to work.
As Schlenk also confirmed, Reddish requested a trade from Atlanta because he wanted a greater role.
That opportunity isn’t obvious with the Knicks. They have two lockedin starting wings in RJ Barrett and Evan Fournier, plus a Thibodeau favorite in Alec Burks and two point guards — Derrick Rose and Kemba Walker — who command minutes when healthy.
Reddish averaged 23.4 minutes with the Hawks this season, and 28.8 last season before he requested a trade. Those minutes aren’t easily available in New York.
But Reddish also has another season guaranteed on his contract, and he’s only 22 years with a high upside. He was rated one the top prospects out of high school and a heavily protected first-round pick was hardly a steep price.
Plus, the move for another wing suggests there’s another trade to be had for the Knicks before the February deadline. The Knicks have some time to assess the situation because Reddish arrived with a sore ankle that should keep him sidelined “for a while,” according to Thibodeau.