Preseason shows why the Atlanta Hawks made the right call on Cam Reddish
The Atlanta Hawks have been proven to be correct again in the trade they made near the deadline last season. For those who don’t remember the Hawks sent Cam Reddish and Solomon Hill to the New York Knicks, receiving Kevin Knox and a conditional first-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft.
Well, the Hawks then used the pick to help leverage the Dejounte Murray which made the Reddish trade one that just kept on giving. However, that was not the main reason that this trade was of such benefit for the Hawks.
Reddish had reportedly requested a trade in the preseason and the Hawks tried to show how valuable he could be to an interested team. Unfortunately for Reddish, he proved that the grass is not always greener as he fell out of the rotation with the Knicks.
Why have the Atlanta Hawks been further vindicated by the Cam Reddish trade?
So far in his three-year NBA career, Reddish has played a total of 133 games. That is only just over half of the 236 that he could have played during that time. While the 10th pick in the 2019 NBA draft promised so much, his body has not helped him deliver on that promise.
Reddish is now in a contract year and in the first game of the preseason, he injured his ankle. At the time of writing, there were no further updates on the status of the injury but this is the Reddish tale. He cannot get any consistency going in a season because he is so often sidelined.
It is unlikely that he is going to be offered a rookie extension or even a long-term contract at the end of the season. Despite his defensive potential, there is just too much risk in offering the former Duke standout a substantial deal.
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Still, if he had stayed with the Hawks then there is a potential that there could have been a desire not to give up on such a high first-round pick. This is especially so as Reddish was projected to be a big part of the rebuild. The trade took away any such notions which has allowed the Hawks to move forward with the squad that they rounded out over the offseason.