Is ex-Atlanta Hawks forward Cam Reddish career going to be a waste?

Apart from being the draft pick involved in the trade that the Atlanta Hawks received in the Luka Doncic trade, Cam Reddish has had no other accolades throughout his career. Think about that, what you are probably going to be remembered for is being the collateral that help trigger one of the biggest draft night trades in the past decade. The kicker here is that he was not even in the league at this time.

When Reddish entered the NBA the hype about his wingspan and defensive prowess was real. He had true potential to be anything in the league and the young Hawks were able to give him court time to develop.

After being taken with the tenth pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Reddish showed glimpses of his talent. However, even back in his rookie season he only played 58 of 67 games, starting 34 of them. He averaged 10.5 points, 3.7 assists, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals in 26.7 minutes per game. He shot the ball respectably for a rookie with a slash line of .384/.332/.802

Things never really improved for ex-Atlanta Hawks forward Cam Reddish.

There has been little evidence of progression for Reddish. In fact, if you look at his raw numbers, there is actually evidence of a slight regression. His career averages are 10.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 steals in 24.7 minutes per game. His shooting has never really taken off with a career slash line of .393/.325/.844 which is not an impressive set of numbers at all.

What is even worse is that Reddish has missed so many games over his three and a bit seasons that he has been in the league. Of a possible 237 games, Reddish has only played 149 of them. This is only good for 63 percent of all games over this time. For a player looking to develop a bigger role with a team in the league, this is just not good enough.

The reason I mention this is that Reddish looked to move to greener pasture last season when he made a trade request prior to the 2021-22 season starting. He got his wish and was sent to the New York Knicks where he fell out of the rotation with the Atlanta Hawks receiving Kevin Knox and draft capital.

This season Reddish has managed to play all 16 games of the season but he tweaked his ankle in the preseason and then left the Knicks game against the Golden State Warriors with a groin injury. He has been listed as day-to-day by the team.

While this does not seem too bad, Reddish has a history of injuries below his hips and this is not good at such an early stage in his career. If he cannot get this right, Reddish is not going to land a great offer at the end of the season and could struggle to force his way into a team’s rotations down the track. He needs to get his body right if he is going to continue his career with any level of success.