Could Blazers Trade for Knicks Guard Cam Reddish?

The proverbial marriage between the New York Knicks and Cameron Reddish has been unfruitful to say the least. General manager Scott Perry is ready to trade the Duke University product in return for future draft capital.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype broke the news of a potential Reddish price today:

Reddish, 23, was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft — a draft slide in the eyes of many pundits. He found himself behind De’Andre Hunter in the Atlanta Hawks rotation, yet was still able to carve out roughly 11 points in 25 minutes per game during his three-and-a-half year tenure down south.

Atlanta moved him to New York 40 games into the 2021-22 season and for one reason or another, he has not found the good graces of head coach Tom Thibodeau. He only appeared in 15 games last season, playing 14.3 minutes per game despite per 36 minute averages mirroring his career numbers.

Now, the Knicks are asking for two second-round picks in exchange for the once highly touted prospect. The Portland Trail Blazers have a robust lineup of wing players, including a bench unit featuring Justise Winslow and Nassir Little, but his upside warrants consideration to further saturate that depth chart.

The highlight of Reddish’s career came in Game 6 of the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, where he led the Hawks in scoring with 21 points off the bench, including going a red-hot 6-7 from 3-point land. He boasted 12.8 points and 1.5 steals in only 23 minutes over the six-game series.

Over the last five seasons we have seen competent professionals enter the NBA stage out of the second round of the draft, yet players with raw talent the likes of Reddish come few and far between from pick 31 on down. An investment on Reddish may reap a late-blooming harvest akin to the likes of Jimmy Butler or current Blazers star Jerami Grant.

As the trade deadline approaches, the Trail Blazers front office will have many decisions to make regarding a once-number one seeded team that has prevalent issues to fix. Adding Reddish — who averages less than one turnover per game (0.8) in 21 minutes of action — may offset any depth that is lost in the event of a high-magnitude trade, while quelling a turnover issue that is metastasizing at a rapid pace.