Tag: Cam Reddish

NBA insider gives a potential Lakers trade package for Jerami Grant

Would you give up this suggested offer for two-way Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant?

We’re now a full month into the NBA’s official free agency and player movement period, and still, the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t brought in any outside players.

At best, their roster is only about as good as it was this past season when they won 47 regular-season games and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets. While many have opined that Los Angeles is no better than a play-in tournament team, a more rational analysis reveals that it is likely a legitimate playoff team.

Of course, L.A. doesn’t seem to be a championship-caliber team by any means. Therefore, it has reportedly expressed interest in Portland Trail Blazers two-way forward Jerami Grant.

While a report indicated he could cost two future first-round draft picks, NBA reporter Jake Weinbach said on X (formerly Twitter) that an offer could consist of Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish, as well as the Lakers’ 2029 first-round draft pick (h/t The Cold Wire).

That looks like a reasonable offer for Grant, a 6-foot-7, 30-year-old forward who averaged 21.0 points a game and shot 40.2% from 3-point range this past season. He’s also regarded as a very good and versatile defender, and the Lakers certainly need such a wing player who has length and athleticism.

Hachimura is a good player, but his production is inconsistent and his defense is limited. Vincent is a strong defender but limited offensively, and Reddish is very, very limited overall.

The question is whether Grant would move the needle enough. But if he would, such a trade would allow the Lakers to still deal D’Angelo Russell and their 2031 first-rounder for another impact player.

Duke basketball offers talented 2025 forward Nikolas Khamenia

Duke basketball offered 2025 power forward Nikolas Khamenia as Jon Scheyer keeps an eye on the recruiting trail.

Duke’s recruiting pursuits in 2025 may be smaller class-wise than the 2024 class.

With the ever-growing dependency on the transfer portal for impact players year-to-year, it’s reasonable to believe that high school recruiting classes could potentially get smaller as teams try to find the right blend of high school talent and transfer portal adds to retool their rosters year to year. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer already said on The Brotherhood Podcast that an ideal class for him would include three or four signees.

With that in mind, it’s also important to note that Duke’s brand will allow them to be players amongst the best high schoolers in the country. Duke will always be an attractive destination, especially at the small forward and power forward positions, where Duke has become a factory of sorts over the last decade.

It’s hard to imagine any school competing with Duke in the forwards department as names like Jabari Parker, [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag], [autotag]Paolo Banchero[/autotag], RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Marvin Bagley, Justise Winslow, Cam Reddish have all gone on to become first-round lottery picks after spending their time at Duke.

The Blue Devils could see the same potential in 2025 forward Nikolas Khamenia, a 6-foot-8 prospect they offered recently who plays at Harvard Westlake in California.

Khamenia, a modern power forward, can guard multiple positions. He is athletic enough not to be a liability and can stretch the floor when necessary.

In short, he’s like the Duke forwards of the past decade in many areas. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Duke would offer him. He’s also got plenty of room for physical and skill development, making him a multi-year guy who could help alleviate roster turnover concerns.

Khamenia is ranked 28th in the nation by 247Sports, and the site considers him the third-best player in California.

Alongside Duke, he has offers from UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga, Creighton, Kansas, and UNC.

There’s no actual timetable yet for a decision, but Duke’s offer should resonate with his recruitment.

Cam Reddish has exercised his player option for the 2024-25 season

Another of the Lakers’ rotation players has picked up his player option for the 2024-25 season.

Last summer, the Los Angeles Lakers signed Cam Reddish, a former lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. When he entered the league, he was thought to have star potential, but in his first four seasons, he had amounted to virtually nothing.

Early this season, there was a tickle of promise that Reddish could become a useful role player for the Lakers. He entered the starting lineup on Nov. 10, and he displayed an ability to pressure the ball defensively in the backcourt and occasionally hit open 3-pointers.

But despite remaining in the starting five for most of the next two months, Reddish was an overall disappointment. He shot 38.9% from the field and 33.6% from 3-point range on the year, and his playing time greatly diminished late in the season.

On Saturday, he exercised his player option for the 2024-25 campaign to stay with the Lakers.

Reddish will therefore make nearly $2.5 million next season. At this point, his best value to the Lakers may be as salary ballast in a potential trade that would improve their roster.

The Darvin Ham lineup move that hurt the Lakers more than any other

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has gotten lots of criticism for his lineup choices, but one may have sabotaged the first half of the season.

In mid-January, the Los Angeles Lakers were sputtering. They held a mediocre 19-21 record, and they had lost 12 of their last 17 games. As a result, there was a real chance at the time that they wouldn’t even make the play-in tournament.

But since then, they have won 29 of 43 games, including Tuesday’s play-in tournament contest against the New Orleans Pelicans. Head coach Darvin Ham’s decision to move forward Rui Hachimura into the starting lineup is one thing that sparked L.A.’s turnaround.

Ham deserves credit for giving Hachimura the nod in the starting lineup. However, before that, he started Cam Reddish in 26 of the team’s first 40 games, and he deserves criticism for that decision.

Reddish, a former lottery pick in 2018, can now be called a certified bust. He finished the regular season shooting just 38.9% from the field and 33.6% from 3-point range, and although he can apply ball pressure at times on defense, he cannot be called a good overall defender.

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report called the decision to start Reddish the Lakers’ biggest regret of the season.

Via Bleacher Report:

“It may not be a coincidence that L.A.’s season took off when the Duke [University] product wasn’t such a big part of it.

“Reddish started 26 of the first 33 games he played, averaging 23.6 minutes through Jan. 13, the date of his last first-unit appearance. At that cutoff, the Lakers were 19-21 with a minus-0.9 net rating overall and a minus-2.0 with the 24-year-old on the floor. Remember, that number came with him playing mostly alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

“Since then, with Reddish missing time due to injury and playing a drastically reduced role when healthy, the Lakers went 28-14 and posted a plus-2.8 net rating. Rui Hachimura, who eventually took over for Reddish in the first unit, has been a two-way key to L.A.’s second-half surge.”

With Hachimura in the starting five, the Lakers not only played well, but they became a near-elite offensive team, at least in terms of production. In fact, after the All-Star break, they ranked fourth in offensive rating, third in points per game, second in field-goal percentage and first in free throw attempts per game.

Los Angeles even ranked third in 3-point accuracy following the All-Star break, thanks in part to Hachimura making 42.2% of his 3-point attempts on the season. By contrast, in October, November and December, it ranked 28th, 23rd and 18th, respectively, in 3-point shooting percentage.

One could say that Ham starting Reddish for 26 games sabotaged the first half of the season for the Lakers.

One Western Conference assistant coach is puzzled by Ham’s decision to stick with Reddish in the starting lineup for so long and even called it “stubborn.”

Via Heavy Sports:

“It was always a little strange that they stuck with him, even to the point of it being stubborn for Darvin to keep running him out there,” the assistant coach said. “It’s a situation where it was almost like the front office was set on giving him a half season and then deciding to make the change. Someone was being very stubborn with it. Because once the decision was made to pull him, that was it—he got hurt, and he did not come back.”

With the return of guard Gabe Vincent, who played well on Tuesday, and the midseason addition of Spencer Dinwiddie, there simply isn’t any room in the Lakers’ rotation for someone such as Reddish who is, at best, a slightly above-average defender and a negative on the offensive end.

Darvin Ham: Cam Reddish is expected to play on Friday

The Lakers should be getting back one of their rotation players when they play the 76ers on Friday.

As has been the case for most of this season, the Los Angeles Lakers are short-handed as they attempt to make a final push before the end of the regular season.

Guard Gabe Vincent and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, arguably their two best perimeter defenders, have been out for several weeks because of a knee ailment and foot injury, respectively. They’re also without big man Christian Wood, who has been out since mid-February with knee swelling. Wood, in all likelihood, is out for the rest of the season after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his ailing knee.

Another Lakers player who has been unable to play lately is forward Cam Reddish. He missed their last four games and five of their last six because of a sprained ankle, and he previously sat out 17 games in January and February.

According to head coach Darvin Ham, he’s expected to play on Friday when L.A. hosts the Philadelphia 76ers.

Reddish is hardly an impact player, but he can, at times, play effective team defense. While Philly has been struggling for the past seven weeks without reigning MVP Joel Embiid, it has to be considered a threat because of rising star Tyrese Maxey. Perhaps Reddish will help contain Maxey.

Cam Reddish is dealing with extreme soreness in his foot

Lakers forward Cam Reddish has missed two of the team’s last three games, and he isn’t exactly 100% right now.

The one thing that has been consistent about the Los Angeles Lakers’ inconsistent 2023-24 season has been injuries. A number of role and complementary players have missed multiple games at a time and, in some cases, long stretches with various ailments.

Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood have all been out for a while, which has taxed the team’s depth. In addition, something that has gone under the radar somewhat is the fact that forward Cam Reddish has missed two of its last three games after he recently returned following an ankle injury that kept him out for about a month.

After Los Angeles defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, head coach Darvin Ham said Reddish isn’t exactly 100% health-wise.

Via Lakers Nation:

“Yes, there’s been some extreme soreness with his foot,” Ham said. “We’re just working through it, and we will have an official update tomorrow or Tuesday I’m sure. But we’re trying to manage it as best we can.”

The Lakers have two full days off before they visit the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. After that, they will have another two full days off before they host the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.

Cam Reddish to return for the Lakers versus the Clippers on Wednesday

The short-handed Lakers will be getting one player back from injury when they take on the Clippers on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Lakers have had a seemingly endless string of injuries this season. With the stretch run underway, they’re without Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt, arguably their two best perimeter defenders, as well as Christian Wood, their main backup big man.

Their lack of reliable personnel in the frontcourt played a role in them being outrebounded badly on Sunday in their 123-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

The Lakers face another vital contest on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, who are in fourth place in the Western Conference. Fortunately, they will get a bit of help; forward Cam Reddish will return after missing just over a month of action with an ankle injury.

Reddish isn’t an impact player, but his ability to pressure the ball and go after steals and deflections will help his team.

Not only will the Clippers be without perennial All-Star forward Paul George, but starting center Ivica Zubac is also unable to play versus the Lakers.

The Lakers are in 10th place in the Western Conference with a 31-28 record. They have lost two of their last three games coming out of the All-Star break.

LeBron James, Christian Wood will not play in Thursday’s Lakers vs. Warriors game

It looks like the Lakers will be somewhat depleted when they return to action on Thursday against the Warriors.

After the long All-Star break, the Los Angeles Lakers will return to action on Thursday when they travel north to take on the Golden State Warriors.

They have been on something of a roll lately. They’re on a three-game winning streak and have claimed six of their last seven contests and 11 of their last 16, a spurt that has put them four games over .500.

But that momentum still seems fragile, and L.A. will need to keep winning games in bunches in order to have any real shot at making the playoffs.

Unfortunately, it will be short-handed on Thursday. Both LeBron James and backup big man Christian Wood will sit out the contest against Stephen Curry and crew.

James said recently that he could end up missing Thursday’s game since he sought treatment for an ankle ailment prior to the All-Star game.

The good news for the Lakers is that both Max Christie and Cam Reddish are listed as questionable after missing several games each. Christie, in particular, has shown promise lately as a tenacious defender and improving perimeter shooter.

Golden State will not be an easy opponent for the Lakers. It has won eight of its last 10 games, and some are now believing in its potential as a dark-horse contender in the Western Conference.

Four injured Lakers to be reevaluated after the All-Star break

The Lakers will take a look at four of their injured players after the All-Star break concludes next week.

The Los Angeles Lakers may be starting to perk up. They have won four of their last five games and six of their last nine games, and their offense has been playing at arguably an elite level during that time.

As has become the norm this season, they have been playing short-handed. Guard Gabe Vincent has only played five games so far due to a knee ailment he recently had surgery on and forward Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a foot injury just days ago that is expected to keep him out for several weeks.

In addition, second-year guard Max Christie sprained his ankle on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets and missed Friday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, while forward Cam Reddish has missed the team’s last nine contests.

All four will be reevaluated after the All-Star break, which will start this weekend.

Of the four, Vanderbilt is the most essential to L.A.’s success because of his defense, versatility, rebounding and overall energy and intensity. Vincent also has the ability to help the team with his defense, grittiness and ability to be a relief ball-handler.

Cam Reddish has been cleared to begin on-court progression

After missing the Lakers’ last eight games, forward Cam Reddish seems to be nearing a return.

The injury bug has been one of several reasons the Los Angeles Lakers are just one game over .500 with the All-Star break only a week away. A number of key starters and rotation players have had to sit out multiple games due to various ailments.

Forward Cam Reddish was given a consistent spot in the Lakers’ starting lineup by head coach Darvin Ham back in early November. Although some fans have complained about him playing too many minutes, it’s clear Ham trusts him.

Reddish has missed the team’s last eight games while dealing with a sprained ankle. According to the team, he has been cleared to ramp up his activity, and he could return to game action not too long from now.

The Lakers are thin right now at the wing and forward spots. Jarred Vanderbilt is expected to miss at least three to four weeks with a foot injury, and Max Christie tweaked his ankle on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets.