The 2018-19 NCAA men’s college basketball season wasn’t particularly kind to Duke’s Cam Reddish. The 6-foot-8 freshman phenom had a down year, particularly in comparison to stand out Zion Williamson, who most predict will go No. 1 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
But that doesn’t mean that Reddish doesn’t have his admirers.
According to SNY’s Bagley, the New York Knicks have some talent evaluators that are bullish on Reddish. We don’t that nowhere New York will select in the draft, but if they don’t grab the No. 1 overall pick they could be angling for Reddish.
Via Ian Begley:But it’s worth noting that some Knicks talent evaluators are fans of Duke forward Cam Reddish, per sources.
Reddish, a 6-foot-8 freshman, averaged 13.5 points on 35 percent shooting last season. The 19-year-old didn’t shoot well from beyond the arc, but those in the Knicks’ front office who like Reddish see his game translating well to the NBA.
Again, this is not to say that the Knicks will certainly target Reddish if they end up picking fourth or fifth. There is a long way to go between now and when they’re on the clock on June 20. But Reddish does have New York talent evaluators who think highly of him.
This could also be just the tip of the pre-draft bluster that front offices, agents, and scouts blow toward reporters. The NBA Draft is this sort of stupid shadow game that results in a bunch of information that gets put out into the public sphere with no real grip on why that info is being leaked.
Still, Reddish is the type of physical talent that the NBA covets. I think we’ve got in this sphere where we overvalue the draft in the NBA over the last 10 years or so, particularly when it comes to selections outside of the first few picks. Grabbing value where you can is important, especially for a team like New York.
Who knows if Reddish will work out, but obviously he’s going to be on the minds of teams selecting in the top five despite his poor performance in his one year at Duke.
