10. Cam Reddish, Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta was on a mission during the draft to add young talent to surround rookie of the year runner-up Trae Young and John Collins. With their second top-10 pick, they selected Cam Reddish from Duke, an ultra skilled forward who had a very streaky freshman year.
Reddish was projected by many to be a top-5 pick when the college basketball season started but he just never seemed to find a consistent rhythm to his game. He converted on only 35.6 percent of his field goals and turned the ball over 2.7 times per game to only 1.9 assists.
His primary skill is his shooting and scoring ability, and although he was also inefficient from beyond the arc at 33 percent, he was still able to knock down 2.5 3’s per game. It is possible that Reddish never found his rhythm because he was playing in the shadow of Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett who took away some of the spots he likes to operate in.
If this was truly the problem at Duke, Reddish will have every opportunity to shine in a fast-paced, run and gun Atlanta offense. Beyond his scoring ability, Reddish offers the Hawks defensive versatility.
While Young and Collins are very skilled players on the offensive end, they lack that same ability on the defensive side of the ball. Reddish will be able to contribute on the defensive end guarding multiple positions right from the jump. He should also expect Young to set him up for some open looks but it’ll be on him to show everyone why he was such a highly-touted prospect coming into college last year.
Stat Projections: 10.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 39% FG, 34% 3PT