Knicks rumors: Cam Reddish has fans in scouting department

Recent New York Knicks rumors involve 2019 NBA Draft prospect Cam Reddish, who is well-liked by some within the organization’s talent evaluators.

With the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery quickly approaching, there are going to be plenty of New York Knicks rumors popping up. The Knicks, who went 17-65 during the regular season, share a 14 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick with the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers.

While there is still plenty of time for draft boards to change, as the NBA Draft Combine will give players a chance to raise their stock, there are some players that stand above the rest.

Right now, Duke forward Zion Williamson is regarded as the crown jewel of this year’s draft class. He looks to be the consensus No. 1 pick no matter who wins the lottery. Murray State point guard Ja Morant has some fans around the league as well, and is likely a top-two or top-three pick in the draft as well.

Knicks fans are dreaming big with the draft lottery approaching, hoping some combination of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson are wearing orange and blue come October. New York has enough cap space for two max free agents, so fans are hopeful they can add one of those two players along with Zion.

While the Knicks gave themselves the best chance possible to land Williamson in the draft, there is still an 86 percent chance they do not get the first pick, which likely means they miss out on Williamson. However, there is another Duke player that has reportedly caught the eyes of Knicks talent evaluators.

Many people would assume that the other person is R.J. Barrett. Barrett set the Duke freshman record for points in a season and is presumed to be a top-three prospect in this year’s draft class, but he is not who the Knicks like. That designation falls upon his teammate, Cam Reddish.

According to Ian Begley of SNY, there are some talent evaluators within the organization that are fans of Reddish. That is a statement that may make fans wary.

Reddish went to Duke as one of the most hyped freshman of his class. He was the No. 2 ranked freshman in the 2018 class, behind only Barrett and ahead of Williamson, who was No. 4. North Carolina forward Nassir Little was No. 3. Reddish failed to live up to those lofty expectations.

Reddish, who was lauded for his shooting ability coming out of high school, never found his groove in Durham. He shot 33.3 percent from the 3-point line and 35.6 percent overall from the field, averaging 13.5 points per game.

Some of that can be attributed to playing alongside two dominant scorers in Barrett and Williamson. There are plenty of talent evaluators that believe Reddish’s game will translate better to the next level, where things are more opened, spread out and free-flowing. However, with his star teammates garnering so much attention, it would’ve been nice to see Reddish take more advantage of less defensive attention.

We won’t know for sure where the Knicks are selecting until the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery on May 14. The Knicks will pick somewhere between No. 1 and No. 5, as that is the lowest they can drop based on having the worst record in the league this season.

While there are people within the scouting the department that like Reddish’s game, this does not necessarily mean the team will target him. There are a number of players that could come into play should the Knicks drop out of the top three, and they will narrow that list down in the coming weeks once they begin workouts with players.