Cam Reddish spent just over a year with the New York Knicks. While his time with the team wasn't very memorable after coming over from the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks traded him for a key piece.
Before last season's trade deadline, the Knicks traded a package headlined by Reddish, the 10th overall pick of the 2019 draft, and a first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for Josh Hart. It hasn't been a full year since the trade but the early returns overwhelmingly land in the Knicks' favor.
In his first 25 games with the Knicks last season, Hart averaged 10.2 points per game coming off the bench. The Knicks went 17-8 in those games, allowing them to lock up the fifth seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket and their best win tally in 10 years.
Whereas Reddish lasted only 20 games with the Blazers, the Knicks sealed up Hart's immediate future: he's currently playing the 2023-24 season on the $12.9 million player option that came over on his Portland contract before a four-season, $81 million extension tips off next year.
In another added bonus, the Knicks already re-obtained one of the other pieces sent west in the Reddish trade, Hart's former college teammate and reserve point guard Ryan Arcidiacono.
Reddish, who started eight games with the Knicks in the early stages of last season before falling out of the rotation, has not fared quite as well since signing a two-year, $4.6 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers: over his first five, he has only averaged 3.8 points per game shooting a less-than-impressive 31 percent from the field. Reddish made his first start for the Lakers on Wednesday night, scoring eight points with four defensive rebounds and three steals.
While Knicks fans should not be praying for the downfall of Reddish (who, to his credit, appears to be establishing a defensive niche in Los Angeles), it is hard not to feel grateful for how well one of president Leon Rose's most notable recent moves has panned out, making a trade that secured one of the building blocks of the Knicks' present and future.
Hart will look to continue to show his worth on Friday when the Knicks (2-3) open In-Season Tournament play against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/ESPN).
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