New York Knicks Receive: G/F Cam Reddish, G Delon Wright
Atlanta Hawks Receive: G Kemba Walker, NYK 2024 1st Round Pick (Lottery-Protected)
The New York Knicks are expected to take calls and make trade offers involving Kemba Walker leading up to the deadline, just like the Atlanta Hawks are expected to entertain offers for Cam Reddish this season.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Atlanta has received interest in Cam Reddish from several teams across the league and they are looking for first-round compensation for him. While the former 10th overall pick has played well for the Hawks, it is not surprising to see Atlanta interested in trading Reddish.
They currently need him with all of the injuries on their roster, but Cam Reddish is not a player that the Hawks can afford to keep. Trae Young, John Collins, Clint Capela and Kevin Huerter all received big contract extensions over the last year and with De’Andre Hunter next-in-line, the Hawks will have to choose between him and Cam Reddish on who they want to keep long-term.
The obvious answer for them is Hunter, which is why trading Reddish now does in fact make sense. The Hawks were interested in moving the young wing ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft in order to trade and get a first-round pick then, but no real trades ever progressed.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Knicks-Mavericks Trade Is Focused On Kemba Walker To Dallas
This trade with the Knicks is not necessarily what the Hawks should be looking for in a trade involving Cam Reddish, but they do get a first-round pick and address their backcourt depth with someone who is not only a former All-Star, but plays a similar style to that of Trae Young off of pick-and-roll sets.
Kemba Walker may never be an All-Star-level player again and never be the high-level scoring talent he once was, but this is not to say that he cannot still be effective in this league. We have seen plenty of guards revitalize their careers by taking a back-up role and if Walker is willing to do so, then he could really become a key talent in this league again as a “sixth-man” type of player.
There is no better player in this league for him to sit behind than Trae Young and no better player to learn how to be a sixth-man other than Lou Williams. As for the Knicks, they just need more talent on their roster that can impact the game on both ends of the floor, which is why Cam Reddish and Delon Wright could be appealing to them.
Reddish is a young talent that can provide scoring depth on the wing behind both R.J. Barrett and Alec Burks, whereas Delon Wright replaces Kemba Walker in the rotation as a veteran guard who can facilitate and be a spot-up shooter.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Knicks-Mavericks Trade Is Focused On Kemba Walker To Dallas
At the cost of a first-round pick, this may be a worthwhile trade for New York, but still, there are questions of whether or not Kemba Walker is someone that the Atlanta Hawks should want.
