I spent the bulk of last season writing articles about hypothetical trade candidates for The Knicks, and a lot of them never became an actual rumor.
This year, I’ve tried to focus less on hypothetical trade scenarios but the one that I did recently tough on was Atlanta’s, Cam Reddish.
Surprise, surprise!
Ian Begley of SNY recently reported that the Knicks are one of a few teams interested in trading for the former Duke Bluedevil.
Should the Knicks trade for Cam Reddish?
If you’ve watched this year’s Knicks team regularly, you know that this group bears little resemblance to last year’s team.
"Can Knicks management find another Derrick Rose-like trade to spark the team in the second half? We’ll find out over the next few weeks.The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 10 (less than a month away).Teams have already begun discussing different trade options internally and externally.Many clubs are in or near contention, so it’s hard to determine who will be sellers and who will be buyers at the deadline.Much of that will be determined over the next two weeks or so.Given the path the Knicks have taken to this point, it’s fair to assume they will be looking to upgrade their roster ahead of the deadline.With that in mind, we asked a former executive about the approach they would take at the deadline. (The exec requested anonymity so they could speak freely about a specific franchise).The Knicks are also among the teams who have had a degree of interest in Cam Reddish, per sources familiar with the Reddish dynamic in Atlanta.The Hawks, per various reports, will make — or are making – Reddish available via trade."
Reports suggest Reddish could be had for a first-rounder and as it stands, the Knicks’ pick would be the 12th pick while the Charlotte first they traded for last year would actually forgo the top-18 protection on it and convey at pick #19.
If all it took was something like the trade above, (Kevin Knox to match salaries and Charlotte’s first-round pick) to have RJ playing next to his old, college running mate, then I’m all for it.
But we also have to take into consideration that both RJ and Cam are due for contract extensions soon and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what kind of deal they’d have to pay Cam to retain him.
Reddish has improved pretty drastically this season even though he’s averaging 5 fewer minutes per game than he played last year.
He’s averaging 11.9 points per game while only playing 23 minutes per night, compared to last season where he was averaging 11.2 points on 29 minutes per game.
Although it’ll likely cost the Knicks in the realm of $20 million per year to retain Reddish past his rookie deal, it’s a small price to pay for a guy who’s just 22-years-old and has barely scratched the surface of what he’s capable of.
He’s shown flashes of stardom and you can’t ask for more out of a Wing nowadays in that he’s 6-foot-8, super athletic, and scores at will.
If Atlanta is open to the trade above, I do that 10 times out of 10.