A shoulder injury quickly ended Cam Reddish’s season just as he was starting to find his groove with the New York Knicks.
Reddish sustained the right shoulder AC joint injury in Monday’s game against Sacramento when he went up for a block against Kings rookie Davion Mitchell. The season-ending injury came on the heels of his best game in a Knicks uniform, scoring 17 points in a big win over the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday that ignited their current three-game winning streak.
Reddish’s timeline for recovery will be six weeks, according to an ESPN report.
The Knicks traded for Reddish ahead of the trade deadline for Kevin Knox and a heavily-protected first-round pick. Reddish sought a trade to wiggle out of his way of the rotation logjam in Atlanta only to find himself in a murkier situation with the Knicks. He couldn’t crack Tom Thibodeau’s set rotation until injuries to rookie Quentin Grimes, and sophomore Obi Toppin opened up minutes.
Reddish readily jumped on the opportunity and his minutes steadily grew as he showed flashes of potential as an athletic two-way wing. In 15 games with the Knicks this season, Reddish averaged 6.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 14.3 minutes.
In the third year of his four-year rookie-scale contract, Reddish will be eligible for an extension this offseason. The injury makes it more challenging for the Knicks’ front office to commit to Reddish long-term and will likely wait until next season before deciding on a possible extension.
Before the trade, Reddish was averaging a career-best 11.9 points on 37.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc in 23.4 minutes.
Grimes’ expected return in the next couple of weeks will soften the impact of Reddish’s absence.
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