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Johnson-Reddish showcase likely in next preseason game

Former Blue Devils Jalen Johnson and Cam Reddish will have all eyes on them on Wednesday

When the Atlanta Hawks take the court on Wednesday to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, they are expected to feature a lineup heavy on youth. Head Coach Nate McMillan is taking advantage of the team’s depth and running two groups during the preseason. The vets got the nod on Monday.

That means we should get a nice, long look at both Cam Reddish and rookie Jalen Johnson; the latter in his next step against NBA competition.

What we saw in the opener only served to set the stage for the duo in the Hawks next game.

Johnson didn’t have gaudy stats in the preseason opener but still “stuffed” the stat sheet with four points, one rebound, one steal, and one block. He also went to the line four times, though he could only sink two and shot just 33.3 percent from the floor. Johnson was all over the court on Monday and made a handful of exciting plays in his 12 minutes. His defense was also still tenacious as he has the looks of a player who will often leave his fingerprints on the game and not the boxscore.

For Reddish, who McMillan said will play in every preseason game, it’s been one trade rumor after another. At one point both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves were thought to be interested.

Fortunately, the Hawks have plans for the third-year wing and they start with improving his consistency. Reddish had an up-and-down night against the Heat. He had just six points and shot 42.9 percent from the floor while going 0-for-3 from deep. But he did hit a nifty turnaround early that surely will remind fans of his 21-point outing in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals where he hit 6-of-7 triples.

It’s that kind of inconsistency that the Hawks want him to eliminate from his game. To be fair, it was his first action since that big game in the ECF, so some rust is to be expected.

The good news for Reddish is that he and Johnson should get plenty of time on Wednesday against Cleveland, in front of an amped Atlanta crowd, to show what they can do.

Da ThRONe wrote:Cooper is an absolute steal. His IQ, vision and handle are all legit. He knock down his shots he's an All Star IMO. The offense completely came alive when he entered the game.