Josh Hart headed to Knicks in exchange for Cam Reddish in late-night deal with Trail Blazers: Report

The Knicks got NBA trade deadline day started early by acquiring Josh Hart from the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday night, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

New York is sending Cam Reddish and a protected first-round pick to Portland as part of the deal, according to the report. Svi Mykhailiuk is also headed to Portland as part of the deal, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz.

The Trail Blazers were preparing to face the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday when reports started to surface that Hart was pulled from warmups at Moda Center. Sean Highkin reported that he was seen “dapping/hugging teammates” as he left the court.

The Knicks had been expected to make a trade and Reddish’s name had been mentioned as one player that could be on the trade block for New York. In fact, the Knicks and Trail Blazers had reportedly been in talks about a deal involving Reddish earlier in the day.

Additionally, the Knicks had been doing their “due diligence” on Hart.

Hart is a close friend and former college teammate of Jalen Brunson, and will give the Knicks some added toughness on the court. He’ll also give the Knicks help on the defensive end of the court, rebounding and playmaking.

Hart is averaging 9.5 points per game and shooting 50.4% from the field.

A video appeared on social media shortly after the report came out of Brunson finding out about the trade after his jersey retirement ceremony at Villanova.

@jalenbrunson1 post jersey retirement ceremony finding out @joshhart was traded to the @nyknicks pic.twitter.com/bffT3HFzaA

— 🏀Nova Hoops (@capj1344) February 9, 2023

Reddish has had a rocky tenure with the Knicks since he arrived in 2022 as part of a trade with the Atlanta Hawks. Reddish hasn’t played since Dec. 3 and has fallen completely out of favor with Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.

He has averaged 8.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 21.9 minutes per game this year. Reddish is shooting 44.9 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent from three-point range.