Injuries to key defensive personnel have been hurting the Los Angeles Lakers since returning from the All-Star break, one of those being Cam Reddish. Offense is soaring for L.A., but defense has been lacking due to missing perimeter defenders like Reddish.
After missing the last four games, the 24-year-old returned on Friday against Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers. With Philadelphia missing their MVP center Joel Embiid, shutting down Maxey was at the forefront of the defensive game plan.
Getting Reddish back put him in line for the assignment of guarding Maxey and he played a huge part in his poor shooting night. Maxey finished with 27 points on 10-for-26 from the field and 1-for-9 from 3-point range, earning Reddish some praise from head coach Darvin Ham.
“That’s what he does,” Ham said after Friday’s 101-94 win. “His size, his instincts, his refusal to be screened, whether it’s off ball, whether it’s on ball. Even if he goes under a screen, he’s able to still get tall when guys try to raise up behind it and is feet and hands are constantly active. He moves his feet really well and was able to stay in front without fouling. I thought he was huge. Those minutes he came in and we kind of put him on Maxey, I told him no switching, we wanted to keep Cam on Maxey; we can blitz or hedge, what we call dive if they try to bring someone else into the pick-and-roll to force a switch, but we want Cam on him and when he doesn’t have the ball, deny the hell out of him. I thought he did a great job in a very important segment of the game late.”
Despite not scoring in 19 minutes, Reddish earned the trust of Ham to be a closer and contain Maxey in crunch time. The 6’7” forward is going to be a crucial player as the Lakers look to turn their defense around to prepare for a possible playoff run.
With Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt sidelined for the foreseeable future, Reddish is going to continue to draw the toughest defensive assignment and building upon Friday’s performance will be vital.
Timberwolves’ Naz Reid believes Cam Reddish was best player in 2019 NBA Draft
Since being a lottery pick in 2019, Reddish is still trying to find his way in the NBA. He came to L.A. in hopes of finding some answers on a playoff team. However, Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid believes Reddish was the best player in the 2019 NBA Draft, despite his career struggles.
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