Hawks 2024-25 player profile: De'Andre Hunter Atlanta's unsung glue guy

Soaring Down South’s player profile series is rolling along. We have already gone over Trae Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Clint Capela.

Up next is another one of the few remaining members of the Hawks’ team that made it to the 2020-21 Eastern Conference Finals. Entering his sixth NBA season, Hunter is still young enough to not be a finished product at 26 years old. 

However, it has become increasingly clear where his ceiling most likely lies.

De’Andre Hunter 2024-25 player profile: Hawks forward doubles as unsung hero.

2023-24 stats: 15.6 PPG/3.9 RPG/1.5 APG – .459/.385/.847
2024-25 projections: 16.0 PPG/4.0 RPG/1.6 APG - .470/.380/.840

Hunter is a polarizing player. He has been the Hawks best perimeter defender for the past several years. And his offense has come along to the point that he has carried the Hawks through some rough stretches in games.

On the flip side, though. Hunter has not been the lock-down defender or consistent offensive threat many expected when he entered the league as the No. 4 overall pick in 2018.

Hunter also rubbed fans the wrong way with his media day claims in 2023.

He said he did not work to improve any part of his game and proceeded to put forth an eerily similar stat line to the season before. Hunter has also endured durability issues. He has appeared in no more than 67 games in any season, playing in 57 games in 2023-24.

Hunter gave a much different answer about what he worked on this past offseason during the Hawks’ 2024 media day.

“I'm pretty much an all-around player, so I try to work on everything,” Hunter told reporters on media day. “It's nothing really specific that I try to pinpoint. But I'm just trying to stay healthy, getting to learn my body knowing my body; what I need. I think that was the biggest thing for me this summer.”

De’Andre Hunter may have played himself into bench role for Hawks

The 6-foot-8 wing also thrived in a different role last season. It could be rather informative about how the Hawks can deploy him in 2024-25. Hunter came off the bench for a career-high 20 games last season.

He averaged 16.0 points, 3.0 boards, and 1.3 assists off the bench, posting a 62.7% true shooting mark.

Compare that to his 15.4/4.4/1.6 line and a 57.8% true shooting mark as a starter.

Hunter could also be displaced by rookie No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher. Such a move would make the former an expensive bench player in Year 2 of a four-year $90 million contract that he signed in 2022.