Milwaukee Bucks: Cam Reynolds’ shooting prowess could be real asset

Brought aboard by the Milwaukee Bucks on a two-way contract in the midst of their many free agency dealings this summer, Cameron Reynolds‘ skilled shooting could be of real use when up with the parent club next season.

As the Milwaukee Bucks looks to open up the floor and let it fly beyond even the standard they set last season, a few of their free agent pickups this offseason have been critical in that regard.

Additions such as Kyle Korver and Wesley Matthews clearly boost the Bucks’ overall three-point pedigree next to incumbent sharpshooters like Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton and so on.

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Further down the line, though, stands two-way player Cam Reynolds, who stands as the least experienced and proven of that crop, admittedly.

A castoff by the Minnesota Timberwolves before the start of free agency, Reynolds had to wait a couple of weeks in the open market before being picked up by the Bucks on a two-way contract midway through last month.

That came after the Green Wave alum had to grind in the G League as a member of the Stockton Kings to start the year, impressing enough not to only garner a look with Team USA during their final stages of FIBA World Cup qualifying but getting more than a cup of coffee with the Timberwolves at the end of the year.

It’s quite the story and a remarkable turnaround for Reynolds, who didn’t even so much as sniff big boards or mock drafts before going undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft last summer.

Of course, one of the biggest keys in Reynolds elevating from being an undrafted rookie to seeing NBA minutes, albeit limited ones, in Minnesota in a matter of months was developing into a proven threat from long range.

It wasn’t until late into Reynolds’ time at Tulane where he resembled something of a three-point marksman, shooting as high as 38.8 percent on 201 attempts from downtown in his junior campaign. Reynolds followed that up with a shooting dip at 35.5 percent on 173 attempts that closed out his time in New Orleans and his collegiate career as a whole.

But in advance of his jump to pro ball, Reynolds clearly ironed out any previous consistency issues and posted a shooting clip of 42.1 percent with 56.1 percent of his total shots coming from beyond the arc while with Stockton for the majority of the 2018-19 year. And that certainly held true in his 19 games with the Wolves as the 24-year-old hit 41.2 percent of his 51 attempts from three, fueling his 5 points per game to end last season.

While it ended up being a two-month flyer in the end, the flashes Reynolds showed during that brief stint was clearly enough to land on the Bucks’ radar and end up joining the fold in Milwaukee, all of which continues to be a reminder of how much of a premium NBA teams place on shooting.

Players of Reynolds’ mold, at both his size and position, who also possess the knockdown shooting ability he has harnessed, don’t come around all that often and that’s been elemental to his unforeseen rise as an NBA prospect.

That will undoubtedly be a strength for the Wisconsin Herd, where Reynolds will very likely spend the vast majority of his playing time next season, along with fellow two-way player Frank Mason III.

However, in the times that the Bucks look to manage the workload of their star players or long-standing veterans, which includes utilizing both of their two-way players as we saw down the stretch run last season, Reynolds could offer them a shooting boost in those occasions. The sample size is certainly small, but the efficiency Reynolds showed shooting the long ball throughout his brief stint in Minnesota to finish out last season is certainly promising.

Reynolds will surely look to improve upon skill set and other areas of the game throughout next season, but maintaining his three-point potency will be vital as he continues to brighten his NBA future.