Atlanta Hawks: De’Andre Hunter is the third cornerstone

De’Andre Hunter growth area No. 2 for the Atlanta Hawks)  Strength

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Due to the NBA suspending last season due to COVID-19, Hunter had a lot of time on his hands without any organized basketball to play. He could have gone through the motions and stayed as he was. However, Hunter got busy, improving his body so that he could improve the rest of his game.

Hunter is using his strength to back players down towards the hoop on offense. When it is a smaller player, they simply have no chance of stopping Hunter. He has also improved his ability to finish at the rim, including through contact.

Defensively, Hunter is also harder to move, being able to hold his ground in a way that means the opposition has to find a way around him or pass the ball to another player. As Hunter usually takes the best player on the opposition, this is desirable.

The best aspect of Hunter’s development is that he is still improving and will continue to do so for a number of years. His two-way play is going to make him a max player at some point in his career and the Hawks will be able to build around Hunter Clint Capela and Trae Young.