De'Andre Hunter all bark, no bite in thrilling Hawks win vs. Cavaliers

The former Hawk De'Andre Hunter has, in no small way, been a key piece to Cleveland's success over the last calendar year.

Since trading for Hunter, the Cavaliers have solidified themselves as contenders in the Eastern Conference, filling a weak spot in the starting lineup to flank the All-Star-level talents in Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

While his success in Cleveland has been great to see, Hunter appears to have carried a bit of a chip on his shoulder, as per a quote of his before their head-to-head showdown.

The Hawks were able to dispatch of Hunter and the Cavaliers despite his loud talk, holding him to 16 points in a momentous upset victory. The best part about it all, though? How well Hunter's replacement played.

Onsi Saleh's wing replacement nearly doubled Hunter's output

Letting De'Andre go at the trade deadline for an admittedly cheaper than hoped-for price wasn't a pretty way to slip out of playoff contention for the Hawks last year. The move granted the Hawks flexibility this offseason, however, through the acquisitions of Caris LeVert and Georges Niang. LeVert's contract expired last offseason, and Niang's expires after this season.

The Hawks were easily able to get off these contracts, allowing LeVert to sign with the Pistons in free agency and trading Niang for Porzingis. The room freed up by LeVert was ultimately used to sign Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who has been incredible to start the season. He has stepped into the starting point guard role with Trae Young out and will likely continue to get backup point guard reps in the future.

Alexander-Walker erupted for 30 points in a mandatory effort to secure the win against Hunter and the Cavs. Knocking down a multitude of triples and playing his stellar physical brand of defense all night long, he proved Onsi Saleh right. Letting Hunter walk ultimately looks to have driven Atlanta in the right direction for the future.

As Hunter's quote was almost certainly just a bit of banter between friends and former teammates, Hawks fans should be glad he's carved out a role for himself on another contending team. Since Cleveland hasn't achieved the heights they were expected to during the start of the year, look for Atlanta to be ready to stamp their success against the Cavs in a potentially playoff-seed-altering double header on April 8th and 10th at the very end of the year.