The Atlanta Hawks will be looking for a more productive season from De’Andre Hunter in 2021-22. It is not that Hunter was not engaged when he hit the court, the problem was that he was injured for all but 23 games of the season.
Hunter was the Hawks’ second-best player early on in the season before he had to come off the floor with knee soreness against the Washington Wizards. He would have a non-surgical procedure on his knee which did not fix it which meant that he has surgery during the season to attempt to get the knee right.
Hunter would return for a few games prior to the season and then would play for the entire first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks. Unfortunately for Hunter and the Hawks he would have a second knee operation during the Eastern Conference semi-finals series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Atlanta Hawks have already seen that De’Andre Hunter wants to improve himself.
When COVID-19 shut down the league in mid-march, Hunter did not sit back and wait for it to restart. What he did was to work on his body by himself so that when he could come back and play basketball, he would be in better physical shape and this would improve his game.
Unfortunately due to the second knee operation, Hunter is not able to do the same thing this offseason. However, what he can do is study legends of the game and see how they did it so that he could add another aspect to his game.
Now, let’s take a look at the three legends De’Andre Hunter should study this offseason.
Legends for Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter to study this offseason No. 1) Scottie Pippen
What better way to learn about how to play with a guard who is the face of the team than to study one of the best wingmen ever to play the game. Scottie Pippen played most of his career next to Michael Jordan and was good enough to have a Hall of Fame career.
To put it simply, Pippen did a bit of everything every night, picking up the slack of every player not named Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, or Horace Grant. Pippen averaged more the 20.0 points per game only three times in his career, however, he made up for it in other ways.
Pippen was a solid rebounder, averaging 6.4 per game for his entire career. He was also a steady playmaker, averaging 5.2 assists. However, it was on the defensive end that Pippen was of the greatest value for the Chicago Bulls. He formed such a good perimeter defense with Jordan that he led the league in steals in the 1994-95 season. He averaged 2.0 per game for his career.
hunter takes the toughest defensive matchup every night and needs to develop the same connection with Clint Capela so that he can be even more effective. Hunter has worked hard on his offense, but if he could move the ball more he would be even more dangerous.
Legends for Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter to study this offseason No. 2) Clyde Drexler
Considered one of the greatest ever players ever to play for the Portland Trail Blazers, Clyde Drexler had a Hall of Fame career. Unfortunately for the Blazers, Drexler won his only championship the year that he was traded to the Houston Rockets.
However, that should not take away from what Drexler was able to achieve during his time with the Blazers. Most people remember Drexler for his offensive prowess, he averaged 20.4 points per game for his entire career. However, he was so much more than just a scorer.
One area that Drexler separated himself from other top-level scorers of his generation, was that he was also an elite playmaker, dishing out 5.6 assists. This is an area that Hunter could work on to help him with scoring by creating doubt in his opponent’s mind.
Currently, Hunter is scoring well on all three levels but he is letting himself down by only dishing out 1.9 assists per game. If he can get this number higher, he should be able to pass himself open to give him a better look at the hoop late in games. This is something Hunter will develop as his career progresses.
Legends for Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter to study this offseason No. 3) Kobe Bryant
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Who better to study than one of the best of all time, Kobe Bryant. The Balck Mamba had one of the most intense attitudes in basketball. He attacked defenses like very few other players could and had one of the most successful careers in NBA history.
Bryant also played a high-intensity level of defense which led him to be named to 12 All-Defensive teams throughout his career. Add to this his two scoring titles and you have one of the most complete players in the league.
Bryant’s play, along with his ability to work with some of the best NBA talents of the time, led to him winning five titles, being named to 15 All-NBA teams, and being the league’s MVP in the 2007-08 season. He was also a two-time NBA Finals MVP.
Hunter is not going to be the same sort of player that Bryant was. To be fair there are very few players who have played the game that even came close. However, having the killer instinct, the mentality to strike when it will benefit your team the most and hurt the other team is what Hunter can get from Bryant.