Duke Basketball: A one-and-done Cam Reddish may warm bench in NBA

Cam Reddish’s future won’t likely include being on the 2019-20 Duke basketball roster, but if it did, his game — and, of course, the Blue Devils — would benefit.

One sign of lunacy is to think Duke basketball freshman Cam Reddish will stick around to see a sophomore season. One sign of good eyesight, though, is to see that he should.

Actually, for the sake of his bank account, he shouldn’t.

But taking money out of the equation — another sign of lunacy is to think that’s possible — Reddish’s future basketball career would thank him for staying in Durham long enough to fix an abundance of easily noticeable flaws and strengthen his self-assurance on the court.

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That lack of self-assurance was visible within the first 15 seconds of Duke’s 87-65 win at Wake Forest on Tuesday night. On the first possession of the game, Reddish left his feet at the top of the key without seeming to know what he was going to do next. As a result, he handed the Demon Deacons a steal.

Despite possessing the ball the least amongst his fellow freshmen starters, the small forward is averaging a team-high 3.0 turnovers per game — a total of 16 miscues across his last three outings.

And while Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Tre Jones have all shown that they are already more than ready to graduate from the college game, Reddish has shown that his decisions aren’t quite quick enough, his shot selection isn’t quite disciplined enough, the dimensions to his game aren’t quite expansive enough, and, most importantly, his confidence level just isn’t high enough.

As for his physical dimensions — 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan — they are exactly what pro teams desire. And they, along with his silky mobility, are exactly what gives him a high probability of becoming a lottery pick.

Again, because a lottery pick translates into instant millions, Reddish should cash the check and bounce from Duke, particularly since the NCAA is downright disrespectful to its high-flying, commercial-ready athletes.

ALSO READ: NCAA owes Zion Williamson a public apology

However, although the Norristown, Pa., native would naturally benefit from the luxuries of being a teenage millionaire, he wouldn’t likely have the benefit of plentiful playing time — at least not in his first year or two. And that scenario could be detrimental to his seemingly fragile confidence.

If there were 60 NBA teams, Reddish would probably find himself in a starting role as a rookie.

But there are only 30. And there are hundreds of other NBA players with ideal physical characteristics. There a dozens more on the way after this season. In order to separate from the pack, one needs freakish strengths: like the freak athletic ability and motor of Williamson, the freak scoring ability and will to win of Barrett, or the freak defensive skills and ball control of Jones.

Without ample time to work on his game under the tutelage of the GOAT, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, by this time next year, Reddish is likely to either have a reserved courtside seat to watch his professional teammates or a spot on a G-League roster.

Right now, in addition to his turnover issues, his outside shot — thought to be his greatest strength earlier in the season — is becoming a bit of an eyesore. While he did drain two from deep as part of a 14-6 run by Duke to close out the first half against Wake Forest, he missed his other five attempts; across the last six games, he has now found the bottom of the net on only six of his last 38 long-distance tries (15.8 percent).

As a consequence, following recent games, Coach K has continued to hear questions from reporters concerning Reddish’s obvious confidence issues. And, as any GOAT would, Krzyzewski continues to offer thoughts of encouragement.

"“I thought Cam played well tonight,” the Duke basketball program’s 39th-year head honcho said after the win in Winston Salem. “When a young kid hasn’t played to the level he thinks he can play at, he gets down on himself a little bit…When he hit the three to end the first half, it was a big shot, both for him and his confidence and for us as a team.”"

That sounds wonderful; however, Coach K made similar statements about Reddish’s confidence following his 3-pointer and two free throws that helped seal a win over Texas Tech in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20.

In other words, the 19-year-old’s confidence seems to come and go.

ALSO READ: Cam Reddish deserves patience due to defense, attitude

Ultimately, though, Reddish should, for the sake of his future financial stability, go to the NBA after this season. But if he did decide to come back for a second college season — again, that’s about as likely to happen as UNC taking down banners because of years of offering bogus classes to its athletes — he’d surely have more fun starring and growing in a leadership role at Duke than if he had chosen to watch his NBA teammates from his seat on the pine.

Either way, he should be fine. And maybe his latest performance — the first time in a month he has scored in double figures — is truly a sign of an NBA-ready Reddish who is about to shine.

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Reddish — who is averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.0 steals — and the No. 1 Blue Devils (13-1) play at No. 13 Florida State (12-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. (on ESPN).

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