NBA Draft 2019: Best and worst fits for all potential lottery picks

7. Cam Reddish, 6-8 F/G, Duke

BEST: Atlanta Hawks

A shot creator and spot-up gunner like Cam Reddish needs adequate floor spacing in order to create for himself off het dribble, whether it’s  quick dribble pull-up inside the arc or a hard drive to the basket. Duke provided practically no spacing whatsoever, as the team shot a hideous 30.8 percent from downtown, ranking 327th in the country. Although all players benefit from improved spacing, the sentiment is especially applicable for Reddish, who struggled to finish at the rim at a historically anemic rate (51.2 FG% at the rim, per hoop-math).

Much of Reddish’s poor finishing comes down to his severe lack of lower-body strength, vertical pop, and a quick first step. All of these physical limitations manifest rather noticeably on his drives to the basket, since he struggles to get by defenders of all shapes and sizes. This, of course, exacerbated by opposing defenses packing the paint and sagging off of Duke’s perimeter shooters, thus giving Reddish even less room to navigate.

Surrounding himself with the shooters that Atlanta boasts is ideal, no only for his driving and finishing, but for confidence. After posting an alarming 35.6-33.3-77.2 shooting split, many fans and media members question whether or not Reddish is the offensive star that he was dubbed out of high school — it seems like Reddish, too, questioned his abilities as an offensive player, as his confidence noticeably waned as the season wore on and his shooting woes continued. Playing within a set offensive scheme that generates good looks for its shooters should help him find open looks and chances rebuild his confidence, which figures to be a huge element of his development.

The Hawks also run a fair share of pick-and-roll sets between Trae Young and John Collins, and  although Reddish’s on-ball role was limited while playing next to Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and Tre Jones, he posted sneakily-great numbers scoring out of the pick-and-roll (1.114 PPP on 49 possessions; 96th percentile), which suggests that he could find shots for himself through screen actions with a number of Atlanta’s bigs. Regardless of how he gets his shots, Atlanta presents itself as a promising destination for someone in need of a significant confidence boost.

WORST: New York Knicks

The New York Knicks are reportedly interested in Cam Reddish and would consider drafting him if they were to not land a top-2 or top-3 selection on draft night. Why? Because they view him as the next Paul George. The problem? Cam Reddish is, in fact, not the next Paul George, and making such far-fetched player comparisons often leads to unreasonably high and unattainable expectations that aren’t rooted in reality and rarely end in satisfaction.

The last thing Reddish needs is a team that would burden him with too much pressure from Day 1, and the star starved Knicks and brutal New York media don’t seem to be in the mood for maintaining a patient approach. New York isn’t exactly the best place for players who are hoping to regain confidence in themselves — he’d be better off somewhere else, for the sake of his progression and for the sake of his happiness in general.