2019 NBA Mock Draft: The dust clears from the NBA trade deadline
player. 211. . F. Duke. Cameron Reddish. 6
Reddish certainly (and at long last) looked the part of a modern 3-and-D wing for the hot-shooting Blue Devils on Saturday against Virginia. The 6-8, 218-pound forward knocked down five of eight 3s and chipped in three steals and two blocks as well in Duke’s close loss on the road against the ACC powerhouse. It gave NBA talent evaluators their best look in a while what Reddish might look like in a pro offense.
Coincidentally, Reddish’s strong shooting on Saturday is also a symptom of the rest of Duke’s roster shooting well that night. Overall, Duke was 13-24 from distance in the contest and that, combined with their proficiency in transition, kept them alive against the hounding Virginia defense and some clutch end-of-clock shot-making from the Cavaliers as well. When Duke can space the floor and dictate the pace, things open up for Reddish and he is able to take open 3s in rhythm more often. Defenses usually don’t have to respect any of Duke’s other four starters in the halfcourt, meaning the defense isn’t always bent the wrong direction like it ought to be for a shooter of Reddish’s caliber.
After a hot start to February for Reddish, the freshman is back up to 35.3 percent overall from deep on the season, including 34.3 percent from NBA distance according to Will Schreefer’s NCAA shot charts over at The Stepien. On the positive side, Synergy shows us that Reddish is nailing a remarkable 61.4 percent of unguarded catch-and-shoot looks, of which he got many against Virginia. If Duke’s playmakers can keep it up, Reddish’s value will appear even larger.