Atlanta Hawks: What is De’Andre Hunter’s Biggest Flaw?

A quick look at how De’Andre Hunter can hide his biggest flaw during his rookie year in 2019-20 with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Atlanta Hawks traded up to get De’Andre Hunter in the 2019 NBA Draft by packaging a variety of future draft picks along with taking on bad salary from the New Orleans Pelicans in the form of Solomon Hill.

Hunter was a tremendous collegiate player, but his seemingly low ceiling made the selection of Hunter in the top 5 a polarizing one among NBA Draft Twitter. Of course, the trade of Luka Doncic for Trae Young was also looked upon with disdain, but that worked out quite well for both sides, so the knee-jerk reactions from draft pundits are not often the most unbiased response on the internet.

However, Hunter is not a perfect prospect, and he does indeed have some things he can improve upon as he heads into his rookie season.

According to a recent piece by Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, Hunter’s biggest weakness in his rookie year will be the ability (or inability) of Hunter to create offense off the dribble.

“The rookie doesn’t project as a major scorer,” per Wasserman’s story. “His sophomore numbers (18.8 points per 40 minutes) weren’t much different from his freshman stats (18.4 points per 40). Hunter’s one-on-one shot creation is fairly basic, and he’s best out of the post (88th percentile), another reason to play him at the 4. He’d also offer minimal playmaking as a wing (13.0 AST%), a responsibility that Kevin Huerter, DeAndre’ Bembry and Evan Turner can help take on.”

Indeed, Hunter will likely be limited to a standstill shooter role on offense, but, when combined with his defense and three-point shooting, that is exactly what the Atlanta Hawks will need from the 21-year-old on a night-to-night basis.

It might not be flashy, but even if his creation skills are somewhat lacking, Hunter will still likely be the most impactful rookie on the Hawks next season.