Former Laker Sent To Knicks For Longtime LA Trade Target
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Another Los Angeles Lakers trade target is off the board as Thursday's noon PT deadline approaches!
Sources inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that the New York Knicks are shipping out combo forward Cam Reddish and a lottery-protected future first round draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for starting small forward Josh Hart. Hart, of course, began his NBA career as a Laker before being shipped out to Portland in the 2019 Anthony Davis deal.
Reddish had been a potential Lakers trade target for much of the season. He fell out of Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau's rotation completely two months ago, and has been a healthy scratch ever since. He was first drafted with the 10th pick in the 2019 draft out of Duke by the Atlanta Hawks, and though he has showed plenty of intriguing flashes over the years (particularly in spurts during Atlanta's run to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals), he has yet to quite piece everything together.
The 6'8" forward, 23, had been more or less off the board for LA since it traded for Rui Hachimura, another young 6'8" combo forward till inked to his rookie-scale contract, late last month. Hachimura has basically all the athleticism Reddish possesses, and unlike Reddish has emerged as a reliable catch-and-shoot commodity.
In the 20 games he did play for New York this season, Reddish averaged 8.4 points on 44.9% shooting from the floor, a lackluster 30.4% from deep, and 87.9% shooting from the charity stripe, plus 1.6 rebounds, an assist and 0.8 steals. Unlike Hachimura, Reddish has the outlines of being a capable wing defender, but Thibodeau preferred the two-way capabilities of Knicks wings RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley. Hart is a much more finished, versatile product on both ends of the floor, and should be able to immediately contribute for a 30-26 club with postseason aspirations.
