The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for ways to improve their roster prior to next month’s trade deadline, and New York Knicks wing Cam Reddish appears to be a primary target for the team.
On Wednesday, it was reported that the Knicks are asking for second-round draft compensation in return for Reddish. The Lakers surely have the draft capital to get that kind of deal done. Beyond that, another report indicates that the Lakers are looking to include guard Kendrick Nunn in a potential deal for Reddish.
“The Lakers have been pushing to acquire little-used Knicks wing Cam Reddish, and word is that Nunn would be a chip in that deal, with a third team potentially involved,” Sean Deveney of Heavy.com reported.
Nunn joined the Lakers in August 2021 and was expected to be a valuable member of the team’s rotation in the 2021-22 season. In October of that year, however, Nunn was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his knee. Though he was initially expected to miss just a few weeks, he ended up missing the entire season due to a number of injury setbacks.
He’s managed to return for the 2022-23 season, but he has not been that valuable of a piece in the Lakers rotation this season. In 36 appearances, he’s putting up just 6.4 points per game. He is not shooting the ball particularly well either, hitting just 39.9 percent of his field goals and 31.2 percent of his deep shots.
As for Reddish, he has not been a major part of the Knicks’ rotation this season. In fact, he hasn’t logged a single minute since a Dec. 3 game versus the Dallas Mavericks.
Still, he has proven that he can be an effective rotational piece during his young NBA career.
Perhaps more importantly, he plays at a position of major need for the Lakers. In 20 games this season, he’s scoring 8.4 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the field.
Though he hasn’t looked great during his tenure with the Knicks, he looked better in his early years with the Atlanta Hawks. He averaged 11.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game with Atlanta.
He also logged nearly eight more minutes per game with the Hawks than he has with the Knicks.
Perhaps, he’d be able to regain the level of production he enjoyed earlier in his career with the Lakers. Before that can be figured out, however, a deal has to get done.
Only time will tell if Rob Pelinka and company can make it happen.
