thelesterlee
This weekend, there was a report saying Knicks head coach, Tom Thibodeau, would not be adding new addition, Cam Reddish, into the team’s rotation. New York recently acquired the 22-year old slasher who has played a grand total of 15 minutes in 8 games with the team.
A lot of people are wondering why the Knicks would trade for Cam Reddish to sit at the end of the bench. Especially in a lost season where it’s clear the team cannot win the championship so it makes all the sense in the world to give the young players some NBA minutes to see who you can build with for future seasons.
There are rumors that Reddish was acquired in order to rebuild the Duke team of RJ Barrett, Reddish and Zion Williamson on the Pelicans. And that’s cute and all but it’s a very unserious way to build an NBA roster and I’d like to imagine there are grown-ups in the Knicks front office who recognize this is real life and not an Xbox game.
So there is a far easier conclusion to draw from Reddish’s absence from the rotation. Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau aren’t on the same page.
This week it was reported that the Knicks front office is open to trading away vets like Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier and Alec Burks. Interesting timing considering that same week, coach Thibs doubled and tripled down on his refusal to shake up the starting 5 who 50 games, have made it quite clear they cannot play together and start the games with no energy.
The Knicks did not trade a first-round draft pick to Atlanta so Cam Reddish can get floor seats to Knicks games. If Thibs won’t bench these struggling players then Leon Rose is going to simply remove them from the roster.
The best organizations have complete synchronicity from top to bottom and it appears as though, the front office and the head coach are not on the same page at all.
Thibs has changed his reputation a little bit. In Chicago and Minnesota, he was known for overplaying his vets and never letting young players get any minutes. This season, rookie guard Quentin Grimes, has seen his minutes expand game-by-game although we should all be prepared for disappointment when Derrick Rose returns from injury and we never see Grimes again.
However, for a coach who prides himself in defense, he has allowed his starters to stink it up defensively and face no consequences for their actions, or lack thereof. At least 4 times a game, Julius Randle gets lazy and refuses to rotate and an opposing player splashes an open 3 that demoralizes the entire Knicks team yet Randle continues to be treated like the All-NBA player he was last season and not the bum he is now.
To quickly shoot Tom Thibodeau some bail, his goal is to win as many games as possible. His job isn’t to worry about the team’s future so if he feels it behooves him to play Alec Burks over Cam Reddish then he’s going to do that. Sure.
BUT, I do believe a better coach would recognize how Cam Reddish could help him win games and perhaps Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier getting their necks broken every single time a screen is set on them might be a detriment to winning.
This upcoming trade deadline will say a lot about where Leon Rose’s head is and what he thinks about Tom Thibodeau’s rotations.
