Mock Trade: Thunder Snag Cam Reddish From Hawks

The Oklahoma City Thunder could attempt to re-insert themselves into trade talks this season.

After shipping off their physical assets over the last few years in order to rebuild, Oklahoma City has been relatively silent in negations. But there could be one player available for the price of just one first round selection.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania recently reported that the asking price for Atlanta forward Cam Reddish is one first round pick.

The former No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 Draft, Reddish has never quite lived up to his potential with Atlanta. After an impressive debut season, he regressed in more ways than one his sophomore season.

However, Reddish saw a massive boost in the 2021 playoffs, jumping up to 52 percent shooting and a whopping 64 percent from 3-point land. He was a decently important piece to Hawks deep run, playing 23.0 minutes per contest.

Most recently, Reddish is averaging career highs in efficiency: 40 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc. But he’s seeing a career low in minutes per game at just 22.2.

Per 36 minutes, Reddish would be averaging around 18.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals this season.

The Hawks could continue to hang onto Reddish in hopes he makes his first jump. But with Trae Young, John Collins and a slew of sharpshooters, they haven’t the time to wait around.

A plug-and-play, win-now forward could help do the trick for the Hawks. And OKC should have a first round pick laying around somewhere.

With a guard-heavy rotation, the Thunder could benefit greatly from more wing presence.

With a 7-foot-1 frame, Reddish has been relatively impactful on both ends of the court in his short career. He’s got the length to disrupt passing lanes and stall even the craftiest of players.

He’s decently crafty himself on the offensive end and has the ability to extend his range, shooting around four 3-pointers per game.

But Reddish may not be up Thunder general manager Sam Presti’s alley.

OKC has plenty of projects already, and Reddish would be another added to those ranks. It seems Presti is dedicated to the development of Darius Bazley with his steady stream of minutes, and Reddish would surely cut into that.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort and Josh Giddey are almost certainly starts night in and night out, making Reddish an odd fit with the starting core.

Still, you can never count Presti out of making a move.

Oklahoma City’s Offer: Kenrich Williams and a future first-round pick for Cam Reddish.

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