The Cleveland Cavaliers need to stay away from Cam Reddish

The NBA bust has proven he’s not worth keeping on a playoff roster, so it makes no sense the Cleveland Cavaliers would want Cam Reddish.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are being linked once again to Cam Reddish, now with the New York Knicks. The Cavs are apparently a team that could make sense to trade for Reddish, at least according to Chris Haynes, who went on the #thisleague UNCUT (via Cavs Nation) and gave them a good shot of landing the former Duke Blue Devil.

A lot of fans seem to like this idea, which is perplexing because, despite his size and presumed athletic ability, he hasn’t been a good player. Sure, he may have some upside, but the Cavs are trying to compete this year for a title, and a 24-year-old with issues scoring and being consistent isn’t exactly the guy you want leaning on during crunch time.

Reddish has a career .518 true shooting percentage, and is abysmal at shooting from three, currently hitting just 30% of his shots. He’s a negative offensive player this season (OBPM: -2.2/RAPTOR -2.0) and is his defense is average at best (DBPM: -0.1/RAPTOR: +0.3).

He’s already failed to catch on in Atlanta, despite his high draft stock, and has fallen apart in New York. While some will blame that on Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, in actuality, Reddish is just a poor offensive player.

In fact, he doesn’t bring any upside to the team, not with someone like Isaac Okoro on the roster.

Cam Reddish is a poor man’s Isaac Okoro

If you look at Reddish and compare him to Okoro, you’ll see that Okoro is infinitely better. Especially on defense. He’s got better advanced stats on defense, a higher career ture shooting percentage (.555) and his three-point shooting is on par with Reddish.

There’s no logic in trading for Reddish when Okoro is on the roster. Sure, Reddish is taller, but he can’t score. Are you really going to put Okoro and Reddish on the same team and give them both minutes?

Who would you take minutes from? Dean Wade? No, he’s better then Reddish. Ricky Rubio? No, he’s better then Reddish. Kevin Love? Cedis Osman? Caris LeVert? All better then Reddish.

So why waste draft captail on a bust, who can’t score, and would teake a roster spot away? It makes no sense.