On Thursday morning the Atlanta Hawks traded Cam Reddish, Solomon Hill and a 2025 second-round pick (via the Brooklyn Nets) to the New York Knicks in exchange for Kevin Knox II and a 2022 first-round draft.
On paper, it seems like New York walked away with an incredible steal. Knox was a lost cause and a pick is a pick, but Reddish has incredible potential and should thrive with more opportunities. He is only three years removed from being taken 10th overall in the draft and is currently averaging a career high 11.9 points per game on 40 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
In addition, despite a lack of real opportunity to explode scoring-wise, he has broken the 30-point barrier twice this season.
Interestingly enough, the Knicks weren’t the only team to make a play for Reddish.
The Los Angeles Lakers also attempted to throw their hat into the mix.
According to Fred Katz and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, LA offered a pretty underwhelming package.
“The Hawks have made Reddish widely available since before this past draft cycle,” they wrote. “The price then was a first-round pick, and it never changed. Atlanta was looking for something closer to the slot where it drafted him, No. 10 overall, but nothing materialized.
“The front office had conversations with the Pacers, Lakers, Cavaliers and Pistons over the past several months, sources say, but the Hawks were always waiting for that first-round pick for Reddish.
“The Lakers had offered two second-rounders for Reddish. Still, the Hawks believed a team would eventually offer the first-round pick they sought. They asked for Knicks rookie Quentin Grimes, the No. 25 selection during this past summer’s draft, during negotiations, but the Knicks turned them down, sources said.”
Reddish could have been a huge boost for the Lakers’ offense, so it makes sense that they made this attempt. That said, realistically, there was no way a package like that would ever win out over what other teams were offering.
Which means it’s back to the drawing board for LA.
Thanks to Antonio Brown she’s out here making athlete money. https://t.co/YGkAZOhKiv
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 14, 2022
Thus far, the front office has spoken to two teams about a possible trade centering around Russell Westbrook. In addition, they remain one of four legitimate suitors for Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner. And of course, there’s still the two players they’re desperately trying to unload.
Will any of these deals ultimately come to fruition? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
