Nov 4, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Knicks forward Cam Reddish (0) warms up before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. / Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
Knicks forward Cam Reddish sat during the team’s 113-89 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. It’s the second straight game the 23-year-old has sat due to a coach’s decision as Tom Thibodeau rolls out his new nine-man rotation.
Reddish was drafted No. 10 overall by the Hawks in 2019 and after his minutes began to dwindle, requested a trade for a better opportunity. That opportunity seemingly came with the Knicks, who traded for him last season.
But after 20 games, it seems the organization is looking to change things up.
“Nature of the beast, I guess,” Reddish said after Wednesday’s game. “I’m learning a lot in my fourth year and a lot about the business side early. It is what it is. We’re going to roll with what coach says. That’s that.”
What head coach Tom Thibodeau said is that Reddish and Derrick Rose are out of the rotation in favor of Quentin Grimes and Miles McBride.
When the news broke during Tuesday’s practice, Reddish was not made available to the media. Now that he is, the Duke product said that Thibodeau did tell him he was out of the rotation but did not give a reason.
This season, Reddish has averaged eight points on 45 percent shooting in 21 minutes per game.
“I was doing what I could to the best of my ability on both sides of the floor,” Reddish said. “All this stuff is out of my control, whether I’m doing this or that on the floor. My role, all that stuff, isn’t necessarily up to me. I just come and do what I’m told to do.”
“It’s not just on Cam, it’s on our team. What gives our team the best chance?” Thibodeau said after Tuesday’s practice. “You always have to put the team first. So there’s a lot of sacrifices that need to be made by a team. But we’re always going to put what we feel is best for the team first.”
With the new rotation, a report came out stating that Reddish’s camp has requested a trade from the Knicks, something that was rumored last season. Reddish denied the request and joked that the media knows more about it than he does.
Since the rotation switch, which started Sunday, the Knicks are 2-0 and have pulled within one game of .500 for the season. The current win streak has the Knicks as the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference, and if the season ended today they would be in the play-in game.
SNY’s Ian Begley says that the Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers have been in touch on a possible deal, so it’s possible Reddish’s name is brought up in these discussions.
