Atlanta Hawks: Exploring De’Andre Hunter’s Advanced Statistics
By Chris Guest
A quick peek at how De’Andre Hunter of the Atlanta Hawks compares historically to various college players after his championship-winning sophomore season.
When the Atlanta Hawks took De’Andre Hunter at #4 overall, the reaction was mostly negative due to the fact that the team had to give up so much in order to move up from #8 to #4. However, if General Manager Travis Schlenk wanted to draft Hunter, he deserves the benefit of the doubt at this point.
Obviously, Hawks owner Tony Ressler agreed as Schlenk was given a contract extension and promoted to President of Basketball Operations this week.
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The pick of Hunter is one that will take time to develop, as this Hawks squad is still young, but let’s take a look at Hunter’s sophomore season through the lens of some advanced statistics.
Per Sports Reference, only 42 players (including Hunter) have produced seasons with at least a 61 percent true shooting percentage, at least a 24.0 player efficiency rating, at least a 24 percent usage rate and at least 7 win shares since the site’s database began in 2009-10.
On that list are various elite college talents, such as Ja Morant, Zion Williamson and Dylan WIndler from last season as well as historical seasons from Doug McDermott, Grayson Allen, Mike Daum, Frank Mason, Josh Hart and Jimmer Fredette. While some of those names might not pop right now, remember that they were massive superstars in the college game and brought home multiple awards for their achievements.
Perhaps more notably, Hunter was ranked second on ToTheMean’s regularized adjusted plus/minus list, behind only Gonzaga’s Zach Norvell Jr., who signed a Two-Way contract with the Lakers this offseason. Also in the top 10 was Hunter’s Virginia teammate Kyle Guy (#6, who was drafted by the Kings) along with Celtics forward Grant Williams (#3), Cam Johnson of the Suns (#7) with the Summer League MVP Brandon Clarke of the Grizzlies and #1 overall pick Zion Williamson rounding out the top 10.
The RAPM stat is basically meant for gauging “how performance changes when players are on and off the court,” per ToTheMean and Hunter being so high on the list shows just how outsized his impact was on the Virginia Cavaliers in their title-winning season.
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Could Hunter have a similar effect on the Atlanta Hawks next season? Only time will tell, but the season certainly can’t get here soon enough.