The Atlanta Hawks have seen a vast improvement in small forward De’Andre Hunter this season.
The Atlanta Hawks finished up their 2019-20 season in the middle of March when the league shut down. They were not in contention for the playoffs so they were not invited to play in the NBA restart in the bubble in Orlando.
This means that the Hawks players had more than half a year without the one-on-one contact that a young player usually needs to improve their game. Fortunately for the Hawks, De’Andre Hunter took matters into his own hands, spending the time working on his body as well as his game.
He has also come back to the team with the mindset of taking on the toughest defensive assignments each and every night this season. With less than ten games played he has taken on Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward twice.
The Atlanta Hawks are loving the organic growth of De’Andre Hunter.
.@DreHunter shot 43% from deep in January, earning the @scanaenergy Hot Shot of the Week! pic.twitter.com/c6IIpIIIZE
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 7, 2021
With the exception of Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Atlanta Hawks have essentially fielded the same team as last season, despite their many offseason trades. This is mainly due to the level of injuries they have suffered to the newer players.
While they are still very reliant on Trae Young they are playing better basketball at both ends of the floor. Hunter’s improvement has had a big influence on this. He has improved in almost every measurable simple metric that the NBA has and it looks like he is not done improving this season.