Atlanta Hawks: Grading De’Andre Hunter’s 2019-2020 season

We’ll continue our player grades with one of the Atlanta Hawks bright young stars… De’Andre Hunter. Let’s review how he looked this season.

De’Andre Hunter was the fourth overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks last year and despite being such a high pick he didn’t have super high expectations coming into this season. It felt as though people already knew what Hunter was, a really solid three and D wing, and as long as he lived up to that, Hawks fans would be happy. And I believe he did meet these modest expectations.

Hunter looked really solid for the Atlanta Hawks this season on both ends of the floor. He was a really good shooter and he played really good defense, especially for a rookie. He appears to be the perfect fit with the young core that already exists in Atlanta.

Although he doesn’t appear to be a lock to be a future multiple-time All-Star, he certainly could make the team a couple of times. He will obviously need to improve significantly in order for this to happen but even if he doesn’t turn into an All-Star type player, he will still be a really important piece for what the Hawks are building.

In his rookie season, De’Andre Hunter averaged 12.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game on shooting splits of .410/.355/.764. As I mentioned, Hunter was a really impressive three-point shooter as a rookie. Shooting above 35 percent on 4.8 attempts per game as a rookie is super impressive.

Hunter already proved to be an important part of the Atlanta Hawks offense based on his three-point shooting alone but his even bigger impact has been and will continue to be on the defensive end. Hunter only averaged 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks per game, but his defensive impact goes far beyond raw numbers.

De’Andre Hunter was constantly tasked with guarding the other teams best wing and he faired well, especially for a rookie. Hunter’s defensive rating this season was 113.6 which is far from good, but considering the fact that the Atlanta Hawks defensive rating as a team was 114.4, this implies that the Hawks defense was nearly a point better with Hunter on the floor.

The biggest flaw in De’Andre Hunter’s game at this point is his inability to get to the basket with any sort of consistency. This is definitely something Hunter will need to work on if he wants to make an All-Star game one day.

Considering the fact that De’Andre Hunter will be on his rookie contract for another three years, this will likely be a bargain contract for the Hawks by the final year. Especially if Hunter can improve consistently each year.

Clearly, De’Andre Hunter performed well in his rookie season for the Atlanta Hawks. However, considering he was drafted fourth overall, I think he needs to be held to a certain standard, even if his expectations weren’t insanely high coming into the season.

De’Andre Hunter is going to need to continue to improve, and he likely will as he gets more experience. His growth will be a key part of how far this Hawks team can go in the future.

Overall, I think De’Andre Hunter had a solid rookie season for the Atlanta Hawks.

Final Grade: B-