The Atlanta Hawks traded their fourth-year wing Cam Reddish to the New York Knicks with Solomon Hill and a future second-round draft pick. In return, they received Kevin Knox and the Charlotte Hornets’ heavily protected first-round pick. It is protected so heavily this season that the Hawks would want the Hornets to keep winning.
So in effect, the Hawks may have given up Reddish for a very small return but the reality is that the Hawks made life easier for themselves. Kevin Knox bought into his role straight away with the team, which is something that Reddish did not seem to do. Since he has gone, other players like Delon Wright have appeared so much more confident in their roles with the second unit.
While Reddish reportedly asked to be traded in the offseason to a team where he could be more of a contributor, his time with the Knicks has shown that the grass is not always greener. His role with the Knicks is so much smaller than it was for the Hawks.
The Atlanta Hawks made the right call moving on from Cam Reddish
While I loved Reddish’s all-in type of play, there were certainly some frustrating elements to his game. There were too many one-and-done trips down the court where Reddish would pull up for an ill-advised jump shot and the opposition would then score on the other end with ease in transition.
This led to Reddish having the worse plus/minus on the Hawks squad prior to being traded. The problem did `not seem to be going away for the Knicks where they have only played Reddish in 13 games where he has averaged 5.5 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 0.7 assists in 13.4 minutes per game.
In his 13 games, Reddish has had a positive impact on the box score on just four occasions. He averages plus four in these games, thanks to a plus-nine impact in the Knicks’ loss to the Miami Heat at the end of January.
In the other nine games, Reddish average impact on the box score is minus 9.2. This includes four games where he has impacted the box score by minus 15 or more. While this is not always the best metric to judge a player by, it is the same problem that Reddish had during his time with the Hawks this season so there is definitely something to it.
On the surface, it looks like the Atlanta Hawks lost the Cam Reddish trade. However, if you look deeper, they were not going to be able to sign both De’Andre Hunter and Reddish to the extensions that they would have both wanted. The Hawks have put all their eggs in the Hunter basket, which is the smart move as long as he is able to stay healthy.