Amazing.. We've come so far from disappointment of lottery night. Unbelievable draft. This was my dream scenario.
The Trae Huerter Cam Hunter Collins lineup is so intriguing. I don’t want to see it all the time but I very much want to see it sometime soon
Christmas mornings weren’t always exciting for Cam Reddish when he was younger. They didn’t need to be. His Christmas would be made if he received a new pair of shoes and a new basketball. Anything else that was under the tree wasn’t as appreciated as a new pair of sneakers and a ball. His younger brother, Aaron, was the one who received all of the toys. Cam would scoff at the thought of needing toys to be entertained. He jokingly would call Aaron a nerd. “I’d tell him, ‘A little kid is supposed to get toys,’ and he’d be like, ‘Not me. I only get and want basketball gear,'” Rob Brown, the team director for Team Final, an Elite Youth Basketball League team, recalled Reddish telling him when he was in the sixth or seventh grade. There was also the time when Reddish landed in Atlanta the morning of one of his AAU games. Reddish took multiple flights from Egypt, where he was playing with Team USA in the FIBA Under-19 World Cup team, so he could play with Team Final in time to go up against five-star prospect Vernon Carey. Reddish went straight from the airport to the gym, jumped in a cryotherapy tank to accelerate his recovery from the long travel and scored 44 points against Carey and Team Florida. Seth Berger, the head coach at Westtown High School, arrived at the gym at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning before his team’s playoff stretch began the following Tuesday. Berger brought along his son, who was a sophomore on the team, for some early morning work. Surprisingly, the lights were on. Reddish was there alone with a ball and a basketball shooting gun, which read that he had already attempted 240 elbow jumpers off the bounce. Reddish had made 86 percent of his attempts. “This is at 9:30 in the morning, so I’m not sure what time he actually started,” Berger said. “It was pretty unbelievable to watch. He was just there in by himself.” Reddish woke up on school days to go to the gym at 5:30 a.m. by himself. He got in a second workout and a lift and then would have practice during the afternoon and evening. Reddish’s life revolves around basketball. The minutes he wasn’t on the court were just the time in between. But several NBA executives have reached out to Team Final head coach Aaron Burt since the pre-draft has begun, and the overwhelming question he has received is, “Does Cam actually love the game of basketball?” It has puzzled the coaches who’ve been around him since he was in the sixth grade. They don’t understand why this question has constantly been asked of them and why several draft analysts have questioned his love of the game. ESPN college basketball and draft analyst Fran Fraschilla told The Athletic about a time when Reddish attended a Steph Curry Under Armour camp Fraschilla helped run. Reddish attended the camp and hung out but had no interest in playing the four days he was there due to a minor injury. While at Duke, Reddish faded into the background while Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett took over for the Blue Devils. Reddish’s aggression was questioned consistently. “I think Cam’s best position is to be a facilitator,” Burt said. “It’s not to score or shoot. He’s great at those things, but Cam likes getting people involved with the ball in his hands or being at the point position. It doesn’t have to be for the entire game, but Cam missed an entire year of basketball not playing the position I think he’s best in. People ask all of the time if he loves the game or not. I just think it’s if you put a quarterback at wide receiver or a quarterback at linebacker, is he going to have fun? If Cameron is making plays with the basketball in his hands, you’ll see the love and passion he has for the game that a lot of people like to question.” Brown doesn’t look at Reddish’s lack of aggressiveness as a criticism because that’s just how Reddish always has been. He’s quiet and reserved and can come off as someone who has a blasé approach because of his laid back nature. Brown believes Reddish realized early that Williamson and Barrett were such alpha dogs that he resorted to doing whatever the team needed at that point. Brown has been comparing Reddish to Paul George since he was a sophomore in high school and referenced what George has become with Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook is the boisterous point guard who will trash talk anyone on the court, while George plays the Robin to Westbrook’s Batman, Brown says, and it works for him. At Duke, Reddish let Williamson and Barrett carry most of the offensive load while he developed his game on the defensive end of the floor, which is something he started taking more pride in once he got to college. But Brown echoed Burt’s sentiments that he doesn’t know how truly comfortable Reddish was with his role at Duke. “Did he take a back seat? I don’t know,” Brown said. “There are only so many shots to go around. He’s always been a player where he’s had the ball in his hands. This is the first year where he’s playing where he didn’t have the ball in his hands. I think he’s more comfortable with the ball in his hands.” Reddish answered the question when asked what happened this past season at Duke and why he struggled. “I feel like I was more of a shooter this year,” Reddish said at the NBA combine. “I don’t really classify myself as a shooter.” It was in seventh grade when Berger, Reddish’s high school coach, realized just how special of a player he was. Everyone in Philadelphia knew he was different. Berger laughs that he wasn’t the only one who had an epiphany when watching Reddish that first time in the gym at Competitive Edge Sports. He just needed a few plays to say, “Oh, he’s a future NBA player.” Berger, who was one of the co-founders of AND1, has been around NBA players for several decades and was Orlando Magic rookie Mo Bamba’s high school coach, too, said of all the players he has been around, they are always broken down into a few categories: the ones who have no shot of making it to the league, the ones who have to work incredibly hard to be a special player on some level of basketball and then the ones where something has to go drastically wrong for them to not make it to the league. Reddish fell in the last group. “Cam’s level of commitment to the game is the highest out of any kid I’ve ever coached,” Berger said. “When you combine that commitment and the love of the game, his physical gifts and his amazing IQ, he was a guaranteed pro. “Basketball is a game where the best players can think ahead. Cam has this ability to think three steps ahead and know what play should happen. I think a good player knows the next play, but a great player knows how a play should end, and Cam is one of those great players.” The statistics at Duke do not suggest Reddish is a great player. That’s why he’s one of the biggest mysteries of the players projected inside the top 10 of the NBA Draft. Reddish finished his lone season at Duke with a 46 percent effective field goal percentage. He shot 39 percent on two-pointers, 33 percent from 3, finished with a 16.5 percent turnover rate and finished with single-digit points in nearly half of the games he played in. He also was inefficient playing in AAU ball during his senior year. He shot 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3. Scouts suggest there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Reddish’s shooting mechanics, but those closest to him believe he does have some hesitancy, which shouldn’t be an issue for him. “I do want to see him be more of the Batman because his skills attest to that,” Brown said. “He should be an alpha. He should be the leading scorer of his team every single time. He should be the leading rebounder. He should be impacting the game in every single way because that’s what his abilities show he can do. There’s no doubt about it that I know he realizes he has that in him. I’ve seen it. He just has to find that consistent killer mindset. I’ve seen it in stretches and then I’ve seen some stretches where he doesn’t bring it all of the time.” When Reddish does go all out, there might not be any doubt about his talent level and why he’s considered to be one of the five most talented players in this year’s draft class. Anthony Edwards, the nation’s No. 2 player in the 2019 high school class and a Georgia signee, called Reddish the toughest player he’s guarded. Trendon Watford, another five-star prospect, also called Reddish the toughest player to guard. Reddish scored 53 points against Edwards’ team, and Watford was on the team with Carey when Reddish came back from Egypt and scored 44 points. The potential for Reddish is certainly there, and he fits the “can dribble, pass, shoot” motto in what Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk is looking for in a player. Reddish can play the one, two or three in Atlanta and certainly would provide relief for Trae Young and be an above average secondary facilitator if he ends up being one of the team’s picks. The Hawks have been interested in Reddish for a while, but Berger and Burt don’t see him being on the board at No. 8. If he does fall that far, they believe it will be a mistake by those drafting ahead of Atlanta. “I think ultimately the GMs are very good at understanding what the needs of their teams are,” Berger said. “They see all through the social media hype or criticism. People are looking for highlights. GMs are looking for wins. Cam is a player who will get you wins. We won two state titles with Cam. His senior year, he was hurt for the tournament, and we didn’t win, so go figure.” Said Burt: “If he gets to eight, I think these teams have overanalyzed the way they evaluate talent, people and players. If he gets that far, I think that people have really misjudged him. I think he could be the second-most spectacular player in this draft if he gets in the right situation.”
At State Farm and actually considering buying a ticket package from these salespeople that are selling how sick this draft was to everyone. Big fan of Hunter and can’t believe Reddish fell to 10.
knee i think. schlenk said he's 4 weeks into a 6-8 week timeline. will miss summer league but it's not a big concern.
Here’s Schlenk talking about Reddish. I guess it’s tampering to y’all about Hunter? That’s all so dumb.
I remember when Trae was the most hated player in last years draft class on this board. This year it seems to be Cam Reddish and I’m okay with that. Dude has every tool, will no longer have to share the court with RJ ballhog, and gets to develop with Lloyd Pierce who has already done wonders on our young guys.
Slept on it and here are your my VERY SERIOUS player comps for the new Baby Hawks Trae Young- we already know he is a combo of Steph and Steve Nash. Elite Vision, elite play making, and can shoot from anywhere. Now surrounded by more talent than he knows what to do with assist records may be broken. John Collins- Young better shooting Blake Griffin with a energizer batter plugged in his back. Kevin Huerter- Ginger Klay. Shooter, playermaker, defender. Deandre Hunter- Kawhi. Comes in the League as a 3 and D guy that is boring and will spend every waking moment focusing on getting better. Playing with Trae he’s gonna have a lot of fun while developing his game. Cam Reddish- unpolished Paul George/smaller Kevin Durant. All the tools are there for him to be elite just let him do what he does well now while working on developing his other skills. Bruno Fernando- Dwight Howard with a FT shot. Incredible looking athlete that is terrifying. If this guy was 10 years older he would be a HIGH pick. Teach him how to shoot and let him just grab boards and play defense.
So as promised by me and asked for by no one - Here's my opinion on Dre as someone who watched every game this year: Pros - The obvious one is the defensive versaility. Hunter was used by UVA as a defensive stopper for everyone from quick, twitchy PGs to 4s, though I think he'll initially get bullied by most NBA 4's until he can pack on a few more pounds. This was the major reason behind his redshirt - He needed to catch up in the strength department after a season-long injury in high school (part of the reason he flew so under the radar as a HS prospect). He has good footwork on defense and solid length. No doubt he'll be able to guard anyone he's asked to. On offense, he's a good shooter with the potential to be great. Shot lights out on threes this year but was very careful about taking them, didn't really take many contested ones unless late in the shot clock. His FG shooting was solid but not great - I don't really have any concerns about his shooting. He's really good at getting downhill and attacking the basket when he has the opportunity to, and I think he's going to be able to develop a nice euro step. There were a handful of times where he would get around defenders in a couple steps to get to the basket and I would think "How the hell did he do that." He's also got pretty good basketball IQ and is a nice passer - not afraid to make the extra pass, which is something that should fit very well for the Hawks. Cons - Defensively, hard to think of much. I can see him getting in foul trouble a good amount while adjusting to both the quickness of NBA guards and the strength of NBA forwards. That's just going to be an adjustment. He can sometimes be a little slow to react on help, but is rock solid as a primary ball defender. Offensively, he would disappear at times. His release is still pretty long, and he didn't finish well in the paint if he didn't have a clear path to the basket. Essentially, he looked great in good situations but would sometimes disappear if he became the focus of the other team's game plan. He's not unstoppable. Part of me is very excited to see what he can do outside the Virginia system, much like Brogdon or Joe Harris who really refined their offensive game when not operating in as much structure. That being said, he's not an alpha dog and is definitely not an offense creator. This is the main reason I like the fit with the Hawks so much. His strengths fit the rest of the core's weaknesses and vice versa. If he had gone to another team in the lottery that was hoping for him to create offense or be the team's first option, he was going to disappoint. Even Virginia fans would sometimes get frustrated because "he's supposed to be our best player" and wouldn't exactly take over games, but that's not what his strengths are. But I think his best role is as a defensive specialist who can provide instant offense when put in good situations. He'll need to clean up his shot a bit and work on being decisive on offense, but I have no doubt he'll be able to do it.
you can see the GSW fingerprints all over this Trae - Steph Huerter - Klay Hunter - Iggy Reddish - KD Collins - not really a comp for Draymond, but athletic big
I love the Fernando pick and Reddish can develop and enjoy far more space than he saw at Duke. Damn Travis is so good at his job Wonder if we could throw money at Brooke Lopez to play the 5 and shoot 3s.
So we just swapped Baze for Turner. Turner costs about 700k less as both are in final year deals. Gain a little size.
Does not make a ton of sense. But Baze should be a great fit for Portland and will be good to see him on a Contending team.
Turner can defend 4s, is a secondary ball handler and allows more minutes for Young/Reddish. Move is a blip on the radar, but no qualms on my end