Cam Reddish is getting another shot to show NBA teams there is still something left to unlock.
The former Atlanta Hawks lottery pick will participate in NBA Summer League with the Orlando Magic, according to NBA insider Brett Siegel. Reddish was the No. 10 overall pick by Atlanta in the 2019 NBA draft, a selection that once made him part of one of the league’s most intriguing young cores.
That is what makes this next step so notable. Summer League is not the usual stage for a six-year veteran with more than 250 NBA games on his résumé. It is a proving ground for rookies, two-way candidates, second-year players and roster hopefuls. For Reddish, it now becomes a career reset.
Cam Reddish’s Hawks Story Never Matched the Upside
When the Hawks drafted Reddish out of Duke, the appeal was obvious. He had wing size, athletic tools, shot-making flashes and defensive potential. Atlanta was still building around Trae Young, and Reddish arrived as a long-term upside play who could theoretically grow into a two-way piece next to Young, John Collins, Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter.
The idea always looked clean on paper. The actual development was messier.
Reddish showed flashes in Atlanta, including enough scoring bursts and defensive activity to keep the upside conversation alive. But consistency never followed. The Hawks eventually moved him to the New York Knicks in January 2022 in a deal that sent Reddish, Solomon Hill and a second-round pick to New York while Atlanta received Kevin Knox and a protected first-round pick.
That trade turned Reddish from a Hawks developmental project into a leaguewide question: would another team be able to find the version Atlanta never fully got?
So far, the answer has been complicated. Reddish has since played for the Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers. Basketball Reference lists him with career averages of 8.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 39.8% from the field and 32.2% from three-point range.
Those numbers explain why the Summer League news matters. Reddish has not lacked opportunities. He has lacked a stable role.
Orlando Gives Reddish a Clear Career Test
The Magic are not simply giving Reddish a nostalgia invite. Orlando can use Summer League to evaluate whether the traits that once made him a top-10 pick still translate in a defined role.
For Reddish, the assignment is straightforward. He does not need to dominate young players or put up empty scoring numbers. He needs to defend with purpose, hit open shots, make fast decisions and prove he can fit into a rotation without needing the offense built around him.
That has always been the gap between Reddish’s talent and his NBA reality. Big wings who can defend and make shots stay valuable. Big wings who defend inconsistently or do not space the floor become harder to trust.
The Lakers waived Reddish in March while converting Jordan Goodwin to a standard NBA contract, making Goodwin playoff eligible. Reuters noted that Reddish had appeared in 33 games with eight starts during the 2024-25 season.
Now, Reddish is trying to move from waived veteran to comeback candidate.
For Hawks fans, this is a familiar name taking an unfamiliar route. Reddish was once part of Atlanta’s future. Now he is fighting to prove he still belongs in the league at all. That makes Orlando Summer League more than a July footnote. It is one of the clearest checkpoints yet in a career that has always carried more possibility than certainty.
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