The Atlanta Hawks are building a team for the future. They are competitive now but as their young core grows, they are going to be even better in the coming two or three years. They have two of their five starters locked, and they are playing like the cornerstone pieces that they are.
Trae Young is one of the most entertaining offense first point guards in the league. His ability to create a shot for himself or for others is second nature. It has to be this way for a score-first point guard in this league, otherwise, they become easier to stop if they need a second to decide on a play.
The other cornerstone is Clint Capela whose play this season is incredible, be it scoring, rebounding, or blocking shots. He has changed this Hawks defense from being worst in the league last season to being a top-ten defense in the early part of this season.
Capela has even helped John Collins improve his defense as now Collins knows that his center has his back. The four-year man had a career-high five blocks in the recent LA Clipper matchup. They are becoming a formidable frontcourt to score against and it all starts with the Swiss pivot.
The Atlanta Hawks need De’Andre Hunter to continue to grow.
The second year of a young player’s career is pretty important. You can do one of three things. You can regress into the sophomore slump, can stay at the same level, or the desired outcome is to improve. Well, De’Andre Hunter has improved, and I believe he will be in the conversation for most improved this year.
But the Hawks need the improvement to go beyond this year. Some of the best players in the league play on the wing. While LeBron James is in his late 30’s, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, and so many more will need to be stopped for the Hawks to succeed.
Now let’s take a look at how he has developed into the player the Hawks will be able to continue to develop their franchise around.
De’Andre Hunter growth area to benefits the Atlanta Hawks) Offense
De’Andre Hunter has taken a big step forward this year offensively. His points production has risen from 12.3 to 17.7 per game and the way that he is playing, this seasons number will continue to rise
Over the past five games that he has played, Hunter has scored 20 points or more in four contests. This includes the huge 33 point night he had against the Milwaukee Bucks when the Hawks were short-handed.
The problem for his opponents that Hunter is not just doing it one way. He is scoring at all three levels and is doing so at a higher efficiency than last season. Hunter has improved his shooting from the field, going 51.7 percent from the floor, which is way up from last season where he was 41.0 percent.
His efficiency from deep is slightly better, rising from 35.5 percent last season to 37.5 percent this season. The difference this season is he is making them when they matter. He is simply stepping up to take the right shot at the right time. This means that
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.