In his first rotation minutes of the season, Cam Reddish impressed head coach JJ Redick against the Pistons on Monday.
For all the hope and promise attached to Max Christie heading into this season, a worse start to the season could hardly have been drawn up to open the season.
Receiving the first regular rotation minutes of his career, Christie has looked lost on the floor. Even his 3-point shooting, an area he has excelled in during his career, has been non-existent as he’s shooting just 3-13 from range on the year.
After another uninspiring stint in the first half against the Pistons on Monday, head coach JJ Redick finally made a change. The much-maligned Cam Reddish was picked to replace Christie and he provided a necessary spark.
While he did not score on the night, his defense was a welcome addition to a team that has had basically none of it on the perimeter. Even if the Lakers could not avoid an embarrassing loss to the Pistons, Reddish came out of the defeat looking good.
After the game, Redick spoke about a desire for that defensive impact being the impetus for turning to him. But was it a one-game change or a more permanent one moving forward in the rotation?
“He certainly earned some trust tonight,” Redick said. “But we’ll obviously evaluate tomorrow and see what Wednesday looks like.”
The appeal to Reddish on this Lakers roster is what he can provide defensively and athletically. The quartet of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent and Christie aren’t a particularly athletic group.
On top of that, only Christie at his best has the size and s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 defensively to make an impact and he is very far from his best right now. It’s hard to argue against turning to Reddish in the rotation, which is a huge indictment on how much Christie has struggled this year.
At the same time, Reddish did impress. For all his faults, most of them offensively, he still has plenty of s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 defensively.
“Cam was great tonight,” LeBron James said postgame. “He did exactly what was asked of him. He came in and defended at a high level. He was great.”
Austin Reaves called Cam Reddish’s contributions the “lone bright spot” in the loss, adding, “I think Cam can be a major piece for us” pic.twitter.com/drsqbvj3Lz
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 5, 2024
The problems for Cam typically come when he can’t bring it defensively and when teams start daring him to be an impactful player offensively. But, given how little impact Christie is having on the court right now, there isn’t much of an argument to keep him in the rotation other than hoping that he can make good on his potential at some point.
For now, it leaves the Lakers in a bit of a predicament. But don’t be surprised if Redick, in need of players who can provide something defensively, turns to Reddish again to wrap up the road trip against the Grizzlies.
