Lakers preview: Does Cam Reddish still have Paul George potential?

As the 10th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, now-Los Angeles Lakers forward Cam Reddish seemed to be the prototypical wing in the modern NBA. Standing 6’8″ with a rangy wingspan, his physical gifts were unquestionable.

Even though he may not have lived up to expectations during his lone season at Duke, his potential was enough to convince the Atlanta Hawks to select him in the lottery. The problem with that, unfortunately, was that they had previously drafted DeAndre Hunter earlier in that same lottery, a player whose skillset was comparable to that of Reddish’s.

Reddish found himself buried behind Hunter on the depth chart for the entirety of his duration in Atlanta. It was clear that the organization favored Hunter over Reddish in terms of future plans, and that was confirmed when they elected to extend Hunter but not Reddish. He showed flashes on both ends of the floor at times, but his time with the Hawks was largely shaky and riddled with inconsistency. So, Atlanta’s front office made the decision to send Reddish to the Knicks in early 2022 prior to the trade deadline.

More often times than not, a change of scenery benefits a player’s performance. However, this was an outlier from those typical cases.

Reddish’s time in New York was tumultuous, as he was just never quite able to fit in properly to Tom Thibodeau’s system. Similar to his time in Atlanta, there were times that he looked the part of a potential future star as a Knick. But those times were few and far between. The coaching staff never seemed to gain trust in him on the court, and he frequently found himself excluded from the rotation. It did not take a ton of time for the two sides to seek a separation.

That separation came earlier this year prior to the trade deadline, when Reddish was once again traded. This time, he was sent (along with a first-round pick) to Portland in exchange for Jalen Brunson’s former collegiate companion, Josh Hart. Joining a rebuilding Trail Blazers team that ended up shutting down Damian Lillard for the season, Reddish saw an uptick in minutes after the trade. Again, he had a new opportunity to prove himself.

While the shooting numbers were still not quite where you would want them to be, he showcased a lot of untapped overall potential during his brief stint in Portland. Plus, his 84.3% career free throw percentage hints at someone that might have some untapped shooting potential as well.

Unfortunately for Reddish, Portland neglected to re-sign him after a semi-impressive second half of the season. Furthermore, unfortunately for him and his agent, there were no teams around the league looking to fork out much money for his services.

This was a huge break for the Lakers organization. Taking a flyer on the 23-year-old has almost no downside but a major upside. Obtaining his services for a minimum deal could quite feasibly turn out to be the home run signing of the summer across the entire NBA.

Lakers’ Cam Reddish does have similarities to a young Paul George

His slender build combined with his smooth movements make Paul George an easy comparison. And while PG-13 was much further along in his pursuit of superstardom following his fourth NBA season, Cam Reddish still has time. Now, he will be surrounded by nothing but high-quality NBA players, and led by arguably the greatest basketball player of all time in LeBron James. LeBron’s tutelage should work wonders in Reddish’s development. We already witnessed what appeared to be solid steps forward in Rui Hachimura’s career after coming over last season.

So for a minimum contract, the Lakers have nothing to lose in this scenario. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Reddish has everything to gain. While Lonnie Walker IV may not have received a pay increase from the Brooklyn Nets this summer, simply suiting up for the purple and gold provided a major boost to his career.

Go back a year further into the past, and you will recall Malik Monk’s coming out party in Los Angeles which led to a lucrative pay increase from the Kings in last summer’s offseason. Reddish will hope that his tenure in LA has the same effect on his career (and wallet) as Monk’s.

But where exactly does he fit in with the Los Angeles Lakers? The roster already has its superstars in place with LeBron and AD. Beyond them, it would seem that Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura all have rotation spots all but locked in.

Assuming Vincent and Hachimura are coming off the pine, that means there will be seven other guys (still waiting on confirmation regarding who the seventh guy is) duking it out for the remaining 2-4 rotation spots: Taurean Prince, Max Christie, Jaxson Hayes, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Maxwell Lewis, and the mystery man.

Assuming this will largely be a developmental year for JHS and Lewis, that then leaves five guys competing for those 2-4 spots. Jaxson Hayes would seem to have a spot in the rotation largely in part to his size and energy down low, and Taurean Prince should have a place largely in part to his steadiness from the combo forward spot. Let us also assume that the final roster spot is filled by a big man who may or may not earn a rotation spot.

This would essentially leave Reddish in a 1v1 showdown with Max Christie, and this would appear to be one of the bigger battles to watch out for in training camp. If Reddish can find a rhythm from beyond the arc in training camp and display enough positional malleability in the preseason, he could very easily come out on top.

However, the Lakers are extremely high on Christie, and Reddish will have his work cut out for him when it comes to earning minutes over him. At this point in time, Christie would seem to have a leg up in the race.

As the season goes on, it will be interesting to see if/how Reddish evolves as an NBA player. He has played alongside a few great players thus far in his career, but never any men of the same magnitude as LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Playing alongside two of the greats will be a great opportunity for Cam Reddish to greatly increase his stock across the league. Whether or not this is his lone season in LA is yet to be seen, and that will depend solely on how well he performs individually and gels with his teammates.

Lakers fans have a lot of reasons to smile for the 2023-2024 season, and Cam Reddish should 100% be one of those reasons.