It’s hard to believe, but Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter is already entering his 5th season in the league. Many consider Year 5 to be a benchmark for a player’s career and that couldn’t be more true for the former 4th overall pick.
His path to the Hawks was anything but conventional. Originally picked by the Lakers, his draft rights were traded two weeks later in the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade to the New Orleans Pelicans. One day later, the Hawks landed him in a separate trade and immediately signed him to a multi-year contract.
Atlanta traded for Hunter believing they had their forward of the future. The upside on defense was there, but he needed to improve on the offensive end.
Injuries have held Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter back
Last season was the most healthy season for Hunter as he played in 67 games. In 318 possible career games, Hunter has only played 206 which is 65% of possible career games. In the 72-game shortened 2020-2021 season, Hunter only played in 23 games. He missed the entire month of February and missed all but two games in March as well.
Hunter battled knee injuries throughout the season but was healthy just in time for the Hawks’ 2021 postseason run.
He scored in double figures in three of the five games against the Knicks in the first-round series. Having a healthy Hunter for the playoff run would have been huge, but he was not seen past the first round.
After the Knicks series, he underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and would miss the rest of the playoff run.
The most important thing for Hunter is to stay healthy. He played in his most games in a single season in 2022-2023 and you only hope that continues.
Injuries aside, Hunter has been improving his game and was recently seen working out with well-known NBA skills trainer Chris Brickley!
Hawks' De'Andre Hunter putting in work with Chris Brickley. #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/wg7WLlu1lh
— Josh Buckhalter (@JoshGBuck) July 27, 2023
According to NBA.com, the Hawks ranked 1st in attempted pull-up jump shots in the entire NBA at 28.0 per game. Hunter in particular had the highest eFG% on the team at 53.6% on 3.9 attempts per game.
Hunter has always been effective in the mid-range area, but his deep ball has been improving as well. NBA Scouting Live described Hunter as a player who is “reluctant to shoot threes.” In his rookie season he squashed that notion as he attempted 4.8 three-pointers a game—the highest mark of his career thus far.
He attempted 4.3 three-pointers per game this past season.