Cam Reddish Was Just Hitting His Stride As The Season Was Interrupted

The NBA regular season is suspended, and unlikely to come back this season. Cam Reddish might be the most disappointed about the suddenly shortened season.

The Atlanta Hawks’ season was cut to an abrupt end when the NBA announced the regular season would be postponed. At the time, the Hawks were still on the outside of the playoff picture and unlikely to make the top eight before the season ended. Even so, the Hawks were playing good basketball. One player, in particular, was really hitting his stride: Cam Reddish.

Since his collegiate days, Cam Reddish has been a highly-touted prospect. Despite playing third fiddle to Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett at Duke, Reddish was still a top draft pick when the Hawks selected the forward with the second of their two top-ten draft picks. Reddish’s high expectations followed him into the NBA.

Cam Reddish’s NBA career got off to a pretty rocky start. In his first twenty games as a pro, Reddish scored 20 or more points only once, and not recording more than 6 rebounds or assists. His shooting percentage was way below the league average, too. The NBA adjustment was proving to be a tough transition for Reddish.

The month of November is really when things got bad for Reddish. In November, Reddish shot 32/27/76 from the field. He averaged 7 points while playing north of 20 minutes a night. It was looking like Reddish was completely lost on the basketball court.

As Reddish’s struggles continued into the All-Star Break, it was starting to be a question as to whether Reddish was going to be considered a bust after his first season. Despite Reddish’s struggles, Lloyd Pierce kept the faith in Reddish, still, playing him high minutes while he came off the bench. Things started to turn around for Reddish following the All-Star break.

Coming out of the All-Star Break, Cam Reddish looked like a different player. His stats pre-All-Star averaged 9 points in 26 minutes a game. His shooting percentage was south of 40 and his three-point percentage was slightly above 30 percent. Reddish bumped up all those numbers coming into the second half of the season.

In his last ten games, Reddish bumped his scoring average up to 16 points per game while shooting at a much better percentage. Reddish was shooting 50/40/83 in his last ten. Not only was Reddish shooting better from all over the floor, but he was also shooting more than he was in the first half of the season. In the first half of the season, Reddish was attempting 9 shots per game with 4 threes per game. In his last ten games, Reddish is shooting 12 shots per game with 5 three’s per game.

For Reddish, two games post-All-Star Break really stick out. The first happened against the Brooklyn Nets. Reddish dropped 26 points on 9/14 shooting and 6/9 from the three-point range. The second game was a week later when the Hawks took on the Washington Wizards. Reddish dropped 28 points, going 11/17 from the field and 5/7 on his threes.

Reddish’s turnaround can be connected to the Hawks playing better basketball as a team. Trae Young, John Collins, De’Andre Hunter have all been playing better throughout the season. Reddish is a piece of that, too. With Collins returning from suspension, a lot of pressure was taken off Reddish to be the second or third scoring option on the team. As he gets more and more time, Reddish will continue to get comfortable in his role with the Hawks.

With the NBA season on indefinite hiatus, it’s unlikely we see the Hawks play any more games this season. That’s a shame for Reddish, who was playing his best basketball of the season when this unprecedented event swept through the country. Even if the NBA season is over, Reddish has a lot to build on and look forward to going into next season.