Revisiting the Cam Reddish-Knicks trade ahead of Kevin Knox’s return to the Garden
It’s been over 10 months since the New York Knicks traded Kevin Knox and a 2022 first-round draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Cam Reddish, Solomon Hill, and a 2025 second-round pick. Reddish played in only 15 games for the Knicks in 2021-22 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, which left fans wondering about his future and fit in the rotation.
Reddish didn’t perform well in the preseason, even after he was given the opportunity to start in place of Evan Fournier. It seemed as if he didn’t have a role in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation entering the regular season, but with Quentin Grimes being out for New York’s season opener in Memphis, Reddish got another chance to prove his worth to the Knicks’ roster.
In 28 minutes, the 23-year-old scored 22 points (9-of-15) and added five rebounds. There’s no doubt that the play of the game was the three-pointer that Reddish knocked down with three seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 108. New York came up short in overtime, but Reddish showed that there’s no question of whether or not he deserves minutes.
And in tonight’s game at MSG, Reddish will play big minutes again with Grimes being out, but this time, it’ll be against Kevin Knox’s new team, the Detroit Pistons.
Did Knicks make the right move by trading Kevin Knox for Cam Reddish?
Is the answer to the question above obvious? Yes, yes it is. Like Reddish, Knox was a lottery pick himself, but now, Knox is on his third team since being drafted by New York with the No. 9 pick in 2018. Knox played in 17 games for Atlanta after being traded and averaged 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 6.6 minutes. He signed a two-year, $6 million contract with Detroit in the offseason.
Because the Knicks didn’t extend Reddish before the Oct. 17 deadline (and understandably so), he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer. If he continues to look like he did against the Grizzlies, he could receive a contract from New York during the offseason.
During the preseason, there were a lot of takes going around on Twitter from Knicks fans about how Knox is better than Reddish.
Cam reddish ain’t no different from Kevin Knox . I let that ant man clip trick me
— El Gran Schoen (@MrJwoogie) October 13, 2022
That quickly changed after Wednesday’s season opener, though.
Biggest takeaway tonight is that Cam Reddish is better than Kevin Knox
— Talkin’ Knicks (@TalkinKnicks) October 20, 2022
Knox spent three and a half seasons with the Knicks, and with the exception of his rookie year, his time in New York didn’t go as hoped. It was a bit of a shock when the front office traded him to the Hawks in exchange for Reddish, but there’s no arguing that Reddish is the better player.
This could end up being a big year for Cam Reddish. The potential is there and he’s shown what he can do on the court. If he builds off how he played in the season opener, fans won’t have any reason to ever think about Kevin Knox again.
