Tom Thibodeau Is Not A Fan of Cam Reddish

Tom Thibodeau Is Not A Fan of Cam Reddish

Throughout his coaching career, Tom Thibodeau has been known to simply play only the best players on his team, and to play them a lot, regardless of player potential or future development. This comes at a cost, and right now Tom Thibodeau’s philosophies are impacting Cam Reddish.

Since being acquired by the Knicks, Cam Reddish has played in 3 of the 7 Knicks games, playing just 21 total minutes from those 3 appearances. This is not at all how many Knicks fans, and likely Reddish himself, saw his career going, and it all rests in the hands of Tom Thibodeau and who he deems best for the Knicks success. Right now, Coach Thibs is favoring veterans such as Kemba Walker, Alec Burks, and Evan Fournier over Reddish, making it a struggle for him to get any playing time for the Knicks. Recently, Marc Berman of the NY Post reported that Thibodeau was never on board with the Knicks trading for Reddish, which would perfectly fit the current trend of his playing time.

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The 10th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Reddish actually requested a trade from the Hawks before the season began because he was frustrated with his playing time behind players such as De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Reddish had averaged 23.4 minutes per game for the Hawks this season, which doesn’t seem too low considering he’s a young and relatively unproven player. For the Hawks, Reddish had made just 40.2% of his field goals, a very inefficient mark long-term. His request has clearly backfired, and now he’ll have to gain the trust of his new coach to turn his career around.

The Knicks have some very important decisions to make at the trade deadline, and trading their veterans away for young players and draft picks may be the best move, regardless of what Thibodeau truly wants. This season doesn’t seem to be heading in the right direction for the Knicks, and there’s even a chance the team moves on from last season’s breakout star Julius Randle. Once the trade deadline passes, if players such as Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, Cam Reddish, and Obi Toppin aren’t receiving more playing time, the Knicks will be in a very puzzling spot. As for now, Reddish seems to be in an even worse position than before, and he has Tom Thibodeau to thank for that.