NBA Rumors: Lakers' Cam Reddish Exercises $2.5M Contract Option for 2024-25 Season
Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacek
Featured Columnist IVJune 29, 2024
Cam Reddish is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers for a second season.
Reddish exercised his $2.5 million player option for the 2024-25 campaign on Saturday, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
Los Angeles signed him as a depth addition ahead of the 2023-24 season, and it seemed like he was working his way into being an important contributor with four straight games of double-digit scoring in November. However, that was largely the highlight of his first season with the team.
He ended up missing time with an ankle injury and wasn't an offensive focal point while averaging 5.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 assists a night and shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from deep in 48 appearances.
Reddish has been somewhat inconsistent since he entered the league out of Duke as the No. 10 overall pick of the same 2019 NBA draft that also included Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and Darius Garland, among others.
The Atlanta Hawks surely had high expectations for him given the draft selection, but he never lived up to them before he was traded to the New York Knicks during his third season.
In all, Reddish averaged 11.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 38.5 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from deep for the Hawks.
Things didn't get better with the Knicks, as he ended up falling out of head coach Tom Thibodeau's rotation before they traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the deal that brought Josh Hart to New York.
Reddish appeared in just 20 games for the Trail Blazers in 2022-23 before the Lakers took a low-risk chance on him as a free agent.
Ultimately, it is likely still too early to give up on the forward. He is just 24 years old, has the pedigree of being a top-10 pick, can defend multiple positions and is someone who can stretch the floor when playing at his best.
Perhaps he can fully unlock his skill set with the continuity that will come with playing for the Lakers for a second straight season after bouncing around some of late.