Why Knicks trading Cam Reddish for Reggie Bullock would be incredibly dumb

The Cam Reddish experience has been a rollercoaster of a ride for the Knicks since they decided to trade for him last season. While he has impressed many in the 2022-23 season, apparently the one person that doesn’t feel the same is Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who has kept Reddish out of the rotation for the last 23 games.

This has sparked several trade rumors surrounding the 23-year-old. While it seems like the Knicks are not looking for much in return for Reddish, one of the most recent trade rumors is just ludicrous.

While I’m not completely opposed to Reddish being traded, as it is obviously what’s best for his career, it doesn’t make sense for the Knicks to trade him and get something completely useless in return.

Latest Cam Reddish trade rumor shows how poorly his time with Knicks has been handled

According to notable NBA correspondent Marc Stein (subscription required), the Knicks are seeking second-round draft compensation in return for Reddish, but are also urging the Mavericks to send former Knick Reggie Bullock in return for Reddish.

Now, who knows what Reddish’s value truly is, but it doesn’t seem right to trade someone who was playing the best basketball of their career for less than what the Knicks got for him, but I digress. Seeing how little other players have been traded for in the past, this may simply be Reddish’s value as unfortunate as it is.

However, for the Knicks to even consider trading Reddish for Bullock is just plain stupidity. Reddish may not have the most value, but to trade him for Bullock, who has, in the nicest way possible, been awful this season, makes no sense at all.

Why on earth would the Knicks trade the younger, cheaper, better player in return for Bullock? Maybe in a smaller bench role Bullock can play better, but is it really worth trading Reddish for when you can likely get a better player in return?

Through 43 games, Bullock is averaging 6.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting 37.6% from the field and 34.7% from three. In addition to this, Bullock is getting around 29.5 minutes per game, nearly a career-high.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Bullock and he was incredibly solid during his time for the Knicks, but at this point in his career he might be lucky to still be in the league once his contract expires. Maybe the Knicks could do this trade in order to free up cap space since Bullock’s contract in 2023-24 is non-guaranteed, but that just seems like a pointless trade considering what the team gave up for Reddish.

Things get even worse when you look at this through a deeper scope. The Knicks had the opportunity to re-sign Bullock after 2021 but opted to bring in Evan Fournier instead, who is now one of the worst contracts in the league. They then decided to trade a first-round pick for Cam Reddish, who is now in rumors to be traded for Bullock.

At the end of the day, who knows what Reddish’s value is, but all I know is that trading for Bullock would not bring any good to the team. There are so many better options in terms of players to trade for that would simply bring so much more to the Knicks.

Ranking where Knicks’ Cam Reddish will likely end up in trade

With Marc Stein writing that Cam Reddish is the likeliest Knicks player to be traded, let's rank the 3 teams that have shown interest in him.