The Knicks are working with Cam Reddish‘s representatives in the hopes of finding a landing spot for the fourth-year forward, a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News.
A former 10th overall pick, Reddish emerged early this season as a key part of New York’s rotation, even starting eight straight games in November before suffering a right groin injury that sidelined him for three contests. In total, he has averaged 8.4 PPG and 1.6 RPG on .449/.304/.879 shooting in 20 appearances (21.9 MPG) this season.
However, Reddish’s playing time declined steadily after he returned from that groin injury and he received his first DNP-CD of the season on Sunday vs. Cleveland.
As Bondy notes, while Derrick Rose spoke to reporters this week about accepting his demotion out of the rotation, the Knicks have declined to make Reddish available to the media for three straight days, including on Wednesday ahead of a matchup against his former team, the Hawks.
We already knew, based on previous reports, that the Knicks had discussed Reddish in recent trade talks. The reported involvement of his agents in the effort to find a trade partner is a signal that his camp may feel a change of scenery is in Reddish’s best interest, which is similar to what we heard approximately three months ago.
As a 2019 first-round pick, Reddish is in the final year of his rookie contract and will be eligible for restricted free agency at the end of the season. He’s earning approximately $5.95MM in 2022/23.
For his part, head coach Tom Thibodeau said this week that Reddish’s demotion was about shortening the rotation and giving the Knicks the best chance to win, adding that one DNP-CD didn’t mean the 23-year-old wouldn’t seen any playing time going forward.
“Rarely is anything ever permanent. When another opportunity comes, be ready,” Thibodeau said, per Peter Botte of The New York Post. “That’s all … right now (Reddish and Rose) are not in the rotation but be ready, you could be thrown into the rotation at any time. In the meantime, be a great teammate, help us in practice. That’s what you do control. I think that’s an important part of being a team.”