3 Most underrated players on Atlanta Hawks roster
De’Andre Hunter’s presence would be missed if he were to be traded
De’Andre Hunter is heading into his sixth season in the NBA and is still somewhat of an enigma. He has shown flashes of expanding his game from catch-and-shoot or getting the ball only on dive cuts to trying to create with the ball in his hands and his athleticism has never been in question.
Hunter, 25, averaged 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 46.1% from the floor and 35% from beyond the arc. He is also starting a four-year, $90 million contract this season and has seen his name come up in trade rumors this offseason.
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He has been linked to teams from the Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons to the Indiana Pacers and even the Toronto Raptors as part of the Hawks’ pursuit of Pascal Siakam.
Nothing has come to fruition yet.
If and/or when it does, however, the Hawks could be in for a rude awakening with Hunter being their only perimeter defender on the roster, and certainly the only forward who can do what he does on both ends of the floor. Hunter’s most frequent assignments from last season included Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Brandon Ingram, Kahwi Leonard, and Jayson Tatum.
No one is truly stopping those players on any given night. But the Hawks could soon find out just how much work Hunter was doing on that end if they moved him.