Cam Reddish is a former lottery pick the Los Angeles Lakers seemingly had reported interest in trading for early in his career.
After bouncing around the league a bit, Reddish finally had a chance to join the Lakers last offseason and took it, signing a veteran minimum contract with a player option for the 2024-25 season. With the Klutch Sports connection being there, a partnership with the Lakers at some point seemed like a formality.
Because of the player option he got, Reddish came into this summer with a decision to make. He could either exercise it return to the Lakers for the 2024-25 season at $2.46 million, or he could decline it and test free agency.
Coming off a season in which he dealt with some injuries and was in and out of the rotation, it comes as no surprise that Reddish will be picking up that player option, per Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Sources: Lakers G/F Cam Reddish has exercised his $2.5 million player option to return next season. pic.twitter.com/KoypTKdrQ2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2024
Reddish showed signs of being an effective player during his first season with the Lakers as his defensive versatility and prowess had him in the starting lineup before he went down with a nagging ankle injury.
Overall in 48 games (26 starts), the 24-year-old averaged 5.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 20.5 minutes per game while shooting 33.6% from 3-point range.
While Reddish has never reached the star potential that many have seen from him, perhaps the Lakers can continue developing his game and he will be a solid rotation player for them this upcoming season. Point of attack defense is an area of need for L.A. and Reddish has shown he can provide that.
Now that he is under contract though, the Lakers can also include Reddish in trades as salary ballast, so his future with the organization still remains uncertain. The Lakers seem to be facing a roster crunch headed into free agency and may need to make moves to alleviate that.
Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes & D’Angelo Russell pick up Lakers player options
Earlier in the offseason, Lakers center Christian Wood also picked up his player option to return to the team for the 2024-25 season. Then ahead of their deadlines, both D’Angelo Russell and Jaxson Hayes did the same.
Similar to Reddish now, Wood, Hayes and Russell could potentially be included in trades if L.A. finds a deal that works. The team is essentially at a full roster so will need to make moves to open up spots if they want to add talent.
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