Reddish is eligible for an extension this summer. If the Hawks don’t offer him the deal he wants, he will now be able to show the Knicks that it is worth the money.
New York’s front offices decided to gamble on Kevin Knox, the 2018 NBA draft lottery pick. This is not surprising considering Knox was drafted back when Steve Mills ran the front office. Leon Rose now has his players.
Two young players from the Eastern Conference were swapped in this deal. They had previously faced each other in round one of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Who won the trade and who lost it? Here are our grades for each deal.
Knicks get: Solomon Hill, Cam Reddish, 2025 second round pick
New York Knicks
Reddish is now in his third season in the league and has had an uneven start to his professional career. Reddish still has the potential to make this an exciting deal with the Knicks.
Reddish is only 22 years old. This makes Reddish almost exactly one year older than Davion Mitchell, the No. 9 overall pick in 2021 NBA draft. 9th overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft and nearly two years younger that Chris Duarte, (No. 13th pick in 2021) also.
Reddish’s flashes are amazing, despite his inconsistency and lack of efficiency. Reddish scored at most 30 points in a single game multiple times in December. Reddish was 8 for 13 on 3-pointers against Bulls Dec. 27, and 6 for 10 from beyond the arc against Magic Dec. 22.
Reddish struggles to dribble and is not a good passer. Synergy says that Reddish is 6-foot-8 and has completed more than one third of his possessions as the player who handles the ball in transition or pick and roll. This is an impressive skill set that he could possibly bring to New York’s offense.
He has a 7-foot-1 wingspan and a high steal percentage, making him an ideal defensive player.
Knox was a player who played at least 10 minutes four times this season and a first-round non-lottery pick. The Knicks did not give up on him. He is likely more talented than the Hornets pick, and New York was never going to keep Knox.
This means that even though Reddish doesn’t turn out, this trade was a great one. The only problem is that this likely means that the team will have to pay more for Reddish, regardless of how much his contract extension might cost.
Atlanta Hawks
It is difficult to give the Hawks a grade on this trade, as it is quite safe to assume they are still dealing.
Atlanta should know that they did not intend to extend Cam Reddish’s contract. Or that they felt his camp would demand more than what they could give. This means that they were playing with house cash, even though Knox will never see the floor.
This is exactly what the Lakers should’ve done when they decided not to offer Julius Randle an extension of his contract. Instead of letting Randle sign with the Pelicans in free agent without receiving anything in return, they could have easily surveyed the league to determine if anyone would offer a first-round pick to purchase low on a former lottery pick.
Atlanta does not have to use the Knicks pick on a player in order to make this a worthwhile trade. They would have two of the top 20 draft picks if the season ended today. They have a very deep roster, so they could trade without sacrificing their depth.
They might combine those two picks with Danillo Gallinari to obtain a more powerful defensive player to boost their success. It is possible that they could have gotten a better pick in the first round for Reddish.
