Deandre Hunter's silent summers

[JustSomeGuy]

Hunter is too talented to be so unimpactful on winning.

Average shooter, below average ball handler/playmaker, non disruptive defender, poor help defender, and poor rebounder. He has the physical tools but doesnt have any one elite trait,  so while I hope he can take a leap I’m not super confident. 

[RedDawg#8]

4 minutes ago, JustSomeGuy said:

Hunter is too talented to be so unimpactful on winning.

Average shooter, below average ball handler/playmaker, non disruptive defender, poor help defender, and poor rebounder. He has the physical tools but doesnt have any one elite trait,  so while I hope he can take a leap I’m not super confident. 

The defense part Im optimistic about with Quin. 

Dre fancies himself a 1v1 defensive stopper, which is fine, but Quin wants him to be more of a team/help defender.

If he can buy in and Quin unlocks that part of his game, he has the size and length to play more centerfield on defense like Green and Bam, and be a disruptive force.

That in and of itself could elevate not only his individual profile but our entire team defensive identity.

I think focusing more on team defense will also place him in better rebounding positions, whereas staying glued to your guy can often pull you away from the glass. If Quin emphasizes crashing the glass from our frontcourt, Dre should luck in to 2 additional rebounds per game, (1 per half)

Im confident with his shooting mainly because Quin gives the greenlight on all open shots. Less thinking and pressure to create for Dre, just let it fly. This focus alone saw guys like JC increase his shooting efficiency under Quin. Across an entire season lm sure we could see tangible improvements from Dre and others.

Dre could literally improve just those things and be an impact player for us without the ball handling/playmaking a la Wiggins/Gordon/Porter.

[terrell]

16 hours ago, AHF said:

Hunter isn’t remotely close to an All-Star.  He would be such an extreme outlier.  Is there a single All-Star this season that didn’t put up more win shares this year than Hunter has put up in 4 years?

Now I do think he can improve and fully agree that more effective handles would be big.  But the gulf between him and the last All-Star selected is Grand Canyon sized.

That said, I also agree with you that he fills an essential role on our team and should only exit if we are bringing in someone who can replace his role on defense.  Letting him walk to get off his contract or something makes no sense and would leave a big hole on the team.  
 

Here is to Hunter having a career best season in 2023-24.

[skimaskway23]

It's a shame we can remember the 5 monster games he has had in 4 YEARS. 

 

He needs to realize how big he is and how nobody should be able to stop him at the rim. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, deester11 said:

Man, yall can miss me with the same Hunter "can be this or that IF he.....". Been saying this same ish for four years or more and the Hunter apologists say it's not his fault.  Miss me with that.  He can't dribble for crap. Has no killer instinct and looks to just be on the floor most times.  Flame me. I don't care.  It's been time for him to Step up His game.

 

"If" count in the opening post - 7

That's a lot of "if's".

[deester11]

1 hour ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

"If" count in the opening post - 7

That's a lot of "if's".

Still laughing.

[sillent]

The it's are literally what the off-season is about If players take the time out to work on the flaws in their game they get better.

Dribbling, shooting, passing are all easily correctable. Defense may be harder to practice by yourself and intangibles like height, length, motor and things you can't teach but there's even workouts to get a better vert if that's what players so choose to practice.

Y'all are hilarious sometimes thinking what you see from a player especially a young player is the last thing you'll ever see

Clint is probably the only player on our squad that I see come back every year with no changes but that's clear because he doesn't really train in the off season he vacations. That's cool though when you know your role and are great at what you do.

Just don't be surprised when players come back doing something they weren't doing before. It's a natural part of the game.

[MarylandHawk]

Did Dre really delete all of his Hawks content on IG and leave up a post of Ciao?  

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, MarylandHawk said:

Did Dre really delete all of his Hawks content on IG and leave up a post of Ciao?  

 

No "Ciao" post.  But he only has 3 pics on his IG right now.

[HawkingAwesome]

is rebounding all effort in the NBA?

[AHF]

2 hours ago, HawkingAwesome said:

is rebounding all effort in the NBA?

A mix of effort, technique, tools and opportunity, imo.  You need the tools to be capable of grabbing boards.  There are some technical things in terms of how you body opponents away from the ball and how you read the ball coming off the rim, etc.  Where you play on the floor affects how many chances you will get (obviously big men get more opportunity than guards as a general rule).  But effort and desire is the single biggest factor, imo.  Rebounding is tough work and if you don't "want it" you are never going to be impactful and conversely you can overcome a lot of limitations in other areas if you want the ball more than the other guy.

[JayBirdHawk]

2 hours ago, HawkingAwesome said:

is rebounding all effort in the NBA?

Dennis Rodman when asked why he was a great rebounder: I study guys, learn how they shoot and if they miss where is the ball mostly likely to come off the rim....that and nobody was gonna beat him to the ball.

[AHF]

56 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Dennis Rodman when asked why he was a great rebounder: I study guys, learn how they shoot and if they miss where is the ball mostly likely to come off the rim....that and nobody was gonna beat him to the ball.

Rodman had modest tools but great opportunity, league leading technique, and historic effort. 

[RedDawg#8]

It’s definitely harder to rebound outside-in than it is inside-out.

Guys who like to mix it up down low just tend to be around the ball more.

Again, if Im Dre and taking on the best scorer, that means Im guarding the guy who is likely shooting the most shots or is most likely in a dangerous scoring position to where I am not drifting too far from his body. That alone keeps me from being in a lot of rebounding situations because by the time I land from my contest, the ball is almost on the rim already. And if my guy wasn’t shooting, I am one eye on the glass and another eye making sure he isn’t finding space for a kick out. 

This video tells this story. Ball goes up, Dre is leaning or drifting back to Luka, not the paint. He knows his teammates will get the rebound, he isn’t trying to be caught down in the paint while Luka gets a wide open kick out potentially.
 

 

[Peoriabird]

2 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

It’s definitely harder to rebound outside-in than it is inside-out.

Guys who like to mix it up down low just tend to be around the ball more.

Again, if Im Dre and taking on the best scorer, that means Im guarding the guy who is likely shooting the most shots or is most likely in a dangerous scoring position to where I am not drifting too far from his body. That alone keeps me from being in a lot of rebounding situations because by the time I land from my contest, the ball is almost on the rim already. And if my guy wasn’t shooting, I am one eye on the glass and another eye making sure he isn’t finding space for a kick out. 

This video tells this story. Ball goes up, Dre is leaning or drifting back to Luka, not the paint. He knows his teammates will get the rebound, he isn’t trying to be caught down in the paint while Luka gets a wide open kick out potentially.
 

 

Pretty simple concept which you should not have to explain to Hawk fans who are not bias of course. Oh Wait!

[Diesel]

From today's news article....

 

Quote

“[De’Andre] Hunter has got to be in any iteration of this deal. Just his $20 million salary is necessary. I think he’s a piece that Atlanta, facing a money crunch going forward, would not be totally averse to getting off that contract.”

Hunter, 25, starts a four-year, $90 million contract in 2023-24. Of course, he got that contract while former team president Travis Schlenk was still running the show.

 

This article makes it sound like it was Travis who decided to pay Hunter and others were not in favor...

 

[JayBirdHawk]

2 minutes ago, Diesel said:

From today's news article....

 

 

This article makes it sound like it was Travis who decided to pay Hunter and others were not in favor...

 

Which article? Link?

[Diesel]

13 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Which article? Link?

This article.

[JayBirdHawk]

Is this the year Hunter finally makes the leap?? 

These aren't kind to him at all....how are these to be explained?

 

 

 

https://sportsmathnetwork.com/nba-math/tpa-hub/2022-23-tpa-by-nba-team/#aioseo-atlanta-hawks

[JayBirdHawk]

 

De’Andre Hunter will turn 26 this December, but he has yet to put together the same professional résumé as Collins, who looked to be on the path to 20-and-10 type of production in his prime. Although ‘Dre’ has been a solid shooter spacing the floor in the spread pick-and-roll scheme in his four years in the league, his rebounding and creation for others remains well short of league average wings and forwards in today’s NBA. Most alarmingly, Hunter’s +/- from when he’s on versus off the court on a per 100 possession basis has been at least a point and a half below water in each of the past two seasons.

Per Basketball-Reference

That brings us to this question: what is the path forward for De’Andre Hunter? He now has as much competition on the wings as he’s ever had since being drafted. Bogdan Bogdanović remains a proficient shooter and ball handler. Saddiq Bey acquitted himself well after coming over from Detroit midway through last season. Second year player AJ Griffin is looking to make a sophomore leap.

 

.......am very, very, very confident — 99% [sure] — will be in the trade is Hunter. Everything else, we’ll see.” In short, the smoke in the rumor mill is that there is high motivation toward moving Hunter as his salary appears to be bloated going forward on the aforementioned extension.

It is, of course, possible that with the absence of Collins, Hunter can and/or will play a lot more of his minutes at the 4 than ever before. In a reduced role where his spot-up shooting can be prioritized, that spacing effect can force defenses to stay home on Trae Young and Clint Capela pick-and-roll actions, for example. Questions may then arise about his ability to guard other big forwards or rebound at a higher clip, but in the short term one could do a lot worse in a stopgap power forward.

So this all brings the Hawks to an uncomfortable crossroads: on a team light on perimeter defense, can the Hawks afford to move Hunter? Or can they afford not to pull the trigger on any deal for pure salary relief in the same vein as the Collins deal?

 

Should the franchise continue to prioritize “financial flexibility” in an effort to avoid the luxury tax line, the Hawks may have no choice but to move Hunter for minimal in return and promote players like Griffin and Bey in his place. Either direction brings some unease, but in my view with a clearer vision this regime under new head coach Quin Snyder and relatively new general manager Landry Fields, now is the time to make a bold move and avoid complacency.