Atlanta Hawks: Cam Reddish sees first action with Knicks since trade

After five games, former Atlanta Hawks forward, and the 10th-overall pick in 2019, Cam Reddish finally got his first bit of playing time with his new team, the New York Knicks. It comes after he was traded for Kevin Knox and a protected first-round pick and was shelved with an ankle injury.

Reddish’s debut comes in a 110-102 Knicks win over the Los Angeles Clippers, New York’s second since the trade went down.

It also comes after reports that he was healthy and that his head coach Tom Thibodeau made it clear the third-year forward would have to earn playing time amid in the Knicks rotation.

Reddish played a little over five minutes.

Cam Reddish played a similar role to what he had with the Atlanta Hawks in Knicks debut

Of the 5:24 Reddish played, all but seven seconds came in the second quarter. He finished the contest with two points on 1-of-2 shooting and missed his only attempt from distance. It was a very similar stat line to the one Knox put up in his first game with the Hawks, a 134-122 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Knox got his numbers in two fewer minutes while Reddish was able to add a couple of rebounds to his final line. The two points came off a rebound that he took coast-to-coast for a nice-looking reverse layup.

Hawks fans have seen this before.

He did have a miscue filling the lane rather than flaring out to the corner on an Immanuel Quickley drive, evidence of his unfamiliarity. The play resulted in an Obi Toppin dunk. Ultimately, it was his deployment that was most interesting.

The former Duke wing did much of the things he was tasked with doing as a Hawks reserve seeing over 23 minutes per contest.

Reddish was mostly a floor spacer setting up to the weak side of the play.

His newness to the rotation likely played a part in his usage in just his first game but it is a role he has been highly (maybe even most) effective in this season, shooting 41.9 percent on his catch-and-shoot attempts. It’s also better than the alternative as he’s shooting just 29.4 on his pull-ups.

He wasn’t tested on defense but didn’t create any holes gambling either.

Adding to the intrigue was Reddish’s outlook that was relayed during the broadcast by sideline reporter Rebecca Haarlow. Per Haarlow, Reddish is looking forward to proving himself on the big stage.

"“When I saw The Garden last year in the playoffs with the Hawks, who doesn’t want to be a part of that?” – Cam Reddish"

He also said that he is always looking for opportunities to push himself and is eager to prove his ability as a playmaker in Thibs’ system.

On the Knicks logjam at his position?

"“That’s not pressure. That’s opportunity”"

There is a lot to unpack in just that little bit from Haarlow but the only thing that he is doing differently is playing in New York.

He was asked to earn the role he wanted with the Hawks and many believed that was the impetus for his asking out a few months ago. But from the sounds of it, he was on the sidelines watching his team win but thinking of playing in Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of basketball.

It’s a dream many players have, though most just relish their opportunities when they visit.

He also infamously has more turnovers than assists in his career to this point and was often criticized for his shot selection and not passing the ball, or, bad passes leading to turnovers.

Hopefully Reddish has found what he was looking for in New York. But it that a player that seemed like such a perfect fit for this team at its peak was elsewhere. Especially when we then got a glimpse of what could have been with his performance in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.