The Hawks have had a lot of success drafting under Travis Schlenk. Though their careers didn’t end in Atlanta as many had hoped, John Collins and Kevin Huerter were gems outside of the lottery. Trae Young is a superstar. Jalen Johnson, AJ Griffin, and Onyeka Okgonwu all seem to be trending toward significant contributors, but there is a couple of glaring missteps.
Cam Reddish never realized his full potential, despite many comparing him to Paul George. De’Andre Hunter’s career has gone much better than his counterpart, but it’s still been a relatively disappointing arc for a former fourth overall pick that drew comparisons to Kawhi Leonard. At one point last offseason, Dre and Trae Young were considered the only untouchables on the Hawks roster.
That’s not the case anymore. Atlanta even tried to move him and his $90 million contract for the Pacers’ Chris Duarate and draft picks. The trade never came to fruition, but it’s still no surprise he ended up on Bleacher Report’s most overrated players list of the last five years.
But the reality of Hunter hasn’t quite lived up to any of that. A 13.9-point career scoring average is solid, but his three-point percentage is below average, and his ancillary contributions are almost nonexistent.
Among the 394 players with 2,000-plus minutes during his career, he’s tied for 341st in assist percentage. Since bringing up that rank may not be fair (given the fact that he plays with Young), it’s also worth noting that he’s 255th in that group in rebounding percentage, 341st in steal percentage and 268th in block percentage.
In other words, Hunter has to do more to warrant his position in the core of a team that should be a perennial playoff team with Young on the books.
De’Andre Hunter has been plagued by inconsistencies and injuries but is coming off a season where he appeared in a career-high 67 appearances, which is certainly a bright spot for a player that has struggled to stay on the court.
He averaged a respectable 15.4 points on 35% shooting from beyond the arc, all while typically guarding the opposing team’s best player. However, there is a reasonable gripe with the other facets of his game. As a 6-foot-8 forward, Hunter only averaged 4.2 rebounds as well as less than a steal and block per contest.
That’s unacceptable for a player of his stature. On the other hand, he turned it up in the postseason. This past year, he averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 boards, and 1.2 assists while shooting 36.8% from 3 in the Hawks series against the Celtics. Moreover, the cycle prior, Hunter was about the only positive piece of the team against the Heat, averaging 21.2 points while canning 46.2% of his three-point attempts.
For today’s NBA, $90 million over four years is pennies, but to say De’Andre Hunter has lived up to his lofty draft status would be false. That’s not to say there isn’t room for more growth. His shooting off the dribble remains elite, and if his handles improve, he’s a legitimate scoring threat every night. I am excited to see what the Virginia product can be under Quin Snyder.
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Photographer: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
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