The Cam Reddish years were a case of missed opportunity for the Atlanta Hawks

After initially coming to the Atlanta Hawks as a draft pick in the Trae Young/Luka Doncic trade, Cam Reddish has been more about potential than results. In 118 games over three seasons, Reddish has averaged 11.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 steals in 26.3 minutes per game.

There are a number of issues when looking at these numbers. The first is the 118 games over three seasons and a half seasons. Just under half of those were in his rookie season, which was cut short due to the league stopping thanks to Covid-19. The Hawks were not invited to the bubble in this season thanks to their poor position in the standings.

Then last season Reddish played 26 games due to injury, all of which were under Lloyd Pierce during a time where the franchise was not successful, the Hawks were able to turn their season around with Reddish on the sidelines. This season, Reddish was able to play in 34 out of 41 games to have been completed.

It has been difficult for the Atlanta Hawks to develop Cam Reddish

Due to the inability of Reddish to stay on the court, be it through a global pandemic or injury, the team has not been in a position when they could develop him. This is best shown by his scoring numbers where he averaged 10.5 points in his rookie year, 11.2 points in his sophomore season and 11.9 points per game this season.

One of the problems here is that the Hawks added some incredible veteran talent over the shortened offseason due to Covid. This meant that Reddish needed to adjust to a whole new group of players, working to fit in with them rather than developing his own game outright.

Then, missing the second half of last season was a huge roadblock for Reddish. He watched other players getting developed like Onyeka Okongwu in a way that Reddish had not from just a season before. The difference being Okongwu was the second best big man on the roster while the Hawks were full of talented wings.

So, reportedly over the offseason Reddish asked to be traded. He kept it professional and did not say anything to the media, but you have to wonder what it did to the locker room. He watch Kevin Huerter get an extension and had to know that De’Andre Hunter was going to sign a much bigger deal that was going to be offered to Reddish in the coming offseason.

Knowing that the Hawks were looking to trade him, at his request, Reddish would have been trying to make himself sought after, which meant performing. The problem is, this is where team and player goals can differ and this can have an adverse impact on the team’s performance. I am not blaming Reddish for how the team has played, it is deeper than that, but his game was not helping the team.

.All of this leads to a situation where Reddish was not getting the development he desired and the team were not getting the production, and development they required. Unfortunately this story is repeated across the entire NBA.

As a person who covers the Hawks, I have come to appreciate the person that is Cam Reddish. I am sure that most of the Hawks faithful who also came to accept him as a favorite son wish him the best and that he develops to his full potential.