With the Atlanta Hawks receiving the news that De’Andre Hunter is requiring surgery on a tendon in his right wrist, they need to start making rotational decisions. These will be reasonable short term as Hunter is only expected to miss eight weeks.
Still, in those eight weeks, the Hawks are going to play up to 30 games which is a large chunk of an NBA season so the Hawks need to get it right. There are two obvious choices for this position on, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter, the latter filling this role for most of Hunter’s absence last season.
Both of these players have struggled this season at times. Huerter appears to have started to come out of his slump, while Reddish, who was the most surprising Hawks player to start the season has fallen off over the last couple of weeks.
Why the Atlanta Hawks should start Cam Reddish, at least for the next few games.
As stated earlier, Huerter appears to be coming out of his slump and Reddish has cooled off , he could not buy a bucket against the Milwaukee Bucks. So why then should the Hawks start the player who is struggling over the one who is playing better offense.
There are a number for reasons for this. Reddish is now the best defender at the wing position on the Hawks active roster. He needs to take on the best wing on a nightly basis, curbing their influence from the opening tip.
Last season, when Nate McMIllan took over he took Huerter out of the starting lineup and had him run the bench unit. This, along with the outstanding play of Bogdan Bogdanovic who returned from injury was a big reason for the Hawks turnaround last season.
This is not a knock on Huerter, quite the opposite in fact. He is such a talented player who can take on any role required which is a crucial skill for any good bench player. This is why he should be the first player called upon from the bench and Reddish should start.