In the New York Knicks’ 92-81 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night, Cam Reddish didn’t play. The 23-year-old wing went from disappointing in the preseason, to earning a starting spot, to seemingly being pushed out of Tom Thibodeau’s rotation.
Reddish recently missed a couple of games with a sore right groin, but before that, he averaged 10.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in eight games as a starter. Understandably so, fans are wondering why he’s been left out of the rotation entirely. Quentin Grimes replaced Reddish in the starting lineup and he’s played well, but Cam hasn’t done anything to warrant getting a DNP.
In Sunday’s game, Thibodeau opted for a nine-man rotation that surprisingly didn’t include Reddish but did include Deuce McBride. Postgame, Thibs said that Derrick Rose didn’t play with it being the second game of a back-to-back, but it was a “coach’s decision” to not play Reddish.
Tom Thibodeau said Cam Reddish didn’t play tonight because Thibs wanted to get to a nine-man rotation & Reddish was odd man out. When asked if it was because of Reddish’s defensive performance vs Dallas, he said “I don’t want to put anything on one guy. I don’t believe in that.”
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) December 5, 2022
Knicks’ Cam Reddish doesn’t make Tom Thibodeau’s nine-man rotation cut
The nine-man rotation resulted in a win for New York. A win is a win, but Cleveland had an off night that resulted in the team shooting 34.9% from the floor and 22.9% from deep. The Cavaliers knocked down only eight three-pointers and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff noted that it wasn’t because of the Knicks’ defense, but instead because his team was missing wide-open shots.
However, moving forward, Thibodeau hinted that he’s going to continue to roll with his nine-man rotation. What does that mean for Cam Reddish? Well, it hasn’t been reported that the Knicks are listening to trade offers for him as they reportedly have been for Rose and Immanuel Quickley, but perhaps the front office is planning to deal Reddish ahead of the February deadline.
New York didn’t sign Reddish to an extension before the start of the season, meaning that he’ll be a restricted free agent during the offseason. Given how he looked before getting injured, fans started to assume that he would be in the Knicks’ future plans, but things are looking different now.
As SNY’s Ian Begley noted, New York received calls about Reddish before the start of the season. And we can’t forget about the report from Marc Berman that Cam was reportedly interested in a change of scenery. Reddish responded to that by saying that he didn’t request a trade, but hey, maybe a change of scenery would do him well considering that it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be given a fair chance to be successful with the Knicks.
Cam Reddish’s inconsistencies have been an issue since he was drafted No. 10 in 2019, but there isn’t a justifiable reason for him being pushed out of Thibodeau’s rotation. Maybe — just maybe — the front office has something in the works that hasn’t been made public yet. We’ll have to wait and see.
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