Cam Reddish is the city of Atlanta’s pride and joy; every Hawks fan loves Cam. So when he was involved in every trade scenario imaginable this offseason, fans expectedly reacted harshly. His incredibly high ceiling and cheap price tag make him a desirable asset for other teams, but no trades came to fruition.
Reddish averaged 11.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 26 regular-season games, shooting 36% from the field on 10.1 field goal attempts and 26.2% from three on just under five shots. So it was a bit surprising when in just his fourth game after four months off dealing with an Achilles injury, he dropped 21 points on 6-of-7 from 3 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. 18 of those 21 points came in the second half and 12 in the third quarter alone as the Bucks pulled away and all hope looked lost.
Those flashes are what gets everyone excited about Reddish. Despite his inefficient ways throughout his first two seasons in the league, he has the ability to score at all the levels. He can handle the ball like a guard with a smooth shooting stroke and is ridiculously athletic. You can’t teach many of the traits he possesses. Reddish has suffocating length, and the belief is he can be an elite defender. The Hawks don’t need him to be a 20-point per game guy. They need him to hit timely shots and defend at a high level, but if you ask the fans, they are expecting so much more out of the former Duke Blue Devil.
Hopefully, Reddish’s development experiences some consistency with an entire offseason to work with Nate McMillan‘s staff. He’s two years younger than Hunter, so he’s still developing as a man, and I’m expecting a bounce-back performance in year three.
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