Cam Reddish
Hawk-some Future
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Post draft grades are about as useful as a witness protection program for Wil Byers.
So, instead of handing out a grade for each of Atlanta’s three picks, here is what you can expect to see from them; good and bad.
DeAndre Hunter: I’ll say this, while Danny Ainge’s love affair with draft picks leads me to believe the entire first round will comprise of Boston picks five years now, Atlanta GM Travis Schlenk released his inner “Brewster’s Millions” and spent them all, in one way or another.
The biggest move he made was trading the 8th and 17th pick to get Hunter at #4. After seeing Williamson, Morant, and Barrett go off the board, it’s difficult to get overly excited about Hunter, but I like the pick.
During his two years at Virginia he proved to be one of the better defenders in college ball and is an underrated scorer.
His upside isn’t as high some others, including the Hawks 8th pick which I’ll get to in a minute, but he’s as solid a player as you’ll come across in this year’s group. Hunter has all the makings of a solid 12-15 year career, something the Hawks will more than happy with.
Cam Reddish: Winston Churchill once stated “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key”. He was referencing Russia, but he may as well have been talking about Reddish some 80 years later.
As a Duke fan I watched just about every game this season and I have no idea what to expect from the least heralded, but most complete, of the three Duke freshman.
Some analysts have questioned his dedication due to his tendency to “disappear” for stretches, as well as his desire to play defense; neither of which I completely agree with.
Yes, Reddish has admitted he needs to improve his work ethic, but I think he fell into the trap many of us did this year, star gazing at his more accomplished peers.
Also, he’s a young kid who was just inconsistent on the offensive end; nothing more, nothing less.
As for the defense, I never saw him slack off on that end of the court, and in fact, most Duke insiders will tell you his defensive movement and understanding surprised the coaches more than anything.
I have no idea what the key is to unleash his full potential, but if Lloyd Pierce can figure it out, the Hawks may have gotten the steal of the draft.
Options
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As March Madness fades even further in the rearview mirror and the NBA season winds down as it ramps up for the playoffs, the convergence of the two levels appears on the horizon: the NBA Draft.
Pro teams wait for the draft lottery to see where they’ll land while college players wait for the chance make the leap to the big time.
This year the draft features an embarrassment of riches; a wealth of young talent that could potentially chance the fortunes of any team that has been struggling. Impressively, a few of those game-changing talents all come from one place.
Any NCAA basketball team would be a threat if they could boast just one player who might get drafted in the top 10 of the NBA Draft. However, this past season saw the Duke Blue Devils boast THREE players that could be considered for high picks.
While the draft lottery has yet to come, the Atlanta Hawks can at least count on an early pick and therefore need to start looking at Duke’s Big 3 to see which of those players might be the best fit come draft time.
R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Zion Williamson are all leaving college behind and should all expect to hear their names called without much time passing in between when the draft happens later in the summer.
There isn’t much more to be said about Zion Williamson that hasn’t already been said by every sports show, paper, and fan, and if the Hawks do wind up with the number one pick in the draft, it’s a no-brainer to draft his game-changing talent.
Williamson’s star power might overwhelm some of the other young and talented players the Hawks have already enlisted but John Collins and Trae Young might see his presence as a challenge and up their own games.
There’s also the chance that pulling focus away from those two might help them grow and develop without as much pressure, since they’re essentially the focal point of the team’s future plans at the moment.
In short, Zion is the best player available, and the Hawks would surely love for him to suit up in Atlanta.
If they don’t end up with the first pick in the draft and assuming that Williamson goes first, there are still two Blue Devils options available – R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish.
Barrett would help the team with shot creation options, as Trae Young (and Taurean Prince, to a certain extent) is the only Hawk who seems to be able to make that happen right now.
Barrett sometimes tries for shots he doesn’t need to in an effort to win at all costs, but he could gain valuable experience handling the ball off the bench in Atlanta if he takes to Lloyd Pierce’s coaching style.
That leaves Cam Reddish.
Reddish, much more than either of his two eminently talented teammates, struggled quite heartily in his freshman season at Duke. The 19-year-old could never quite find his niche on the team, which should’ve been catch-and-shoot, three-and-D specialist, but Reddish could often be seen hurtling into traffic toward the paint, then getting called for an increasingly predictable offensive foul as defenders were sent flying as he careened into them wildly.
However, Reddish showed brilliant flashes throughout the year and made himself a legend at Duke with a pair of clutch baskets that won key games for them during the season.
He’s got enough raw, untapped potential that he will certainly get snatched up early in the draft and the Hawks might be the team that calls his name.
