The DeAndre Hunter Issue...

[Diesel]

DeAndre seems to have knee problems.   But he's one of our better wings.  Here are my thoughts.

1.  Do we play him off the bench and limit his minutes to 20-25 to "save his knees"?  He has also looked good off the bench. 

2.  IF we play him off the bench, should we make him our #2 scorer off the bench behind Trae or DJ?

 

Should he be playing as a 3 or a 4?

What happens if we do make a run and get into the playoffs... do we still keep him on minutes restriction?

 

[swanlee]

We need to figure out how to trade him and get ANYTHING worthwhile in return. He is a liability to the team if we depend on him to be a starter but we don't have alot of depth at his position and we need to get what we can out of him before he becomes to unhealthy to play

Edited February 10, 2024 by swanlee

[kg01]

 

I do wonder if limiting his minutes is good for his health.  He's been really good since coming back.

The flipside to that though is we need someone with similar size and skill to play the other minutes.  No small task.  We need an OO/Capela arrangement at the big wing spot. 

[JayBirdHawk]

2 minutes ago, kg01 said:

The flipside to that though is we need someone with similar size and skill to play the other minutes.  No small task.  We need an OO/Capela arrangement at the big wing spot. 

That would be ideal, just hard to find.

 

[RedDawg#8]

I see it like this, even though technically Bey, Dre, and JJ have each platooned minutes at the 3/4 spots, the team is playing much with Bey at 3, JJ at 4. Forget reputations, just going off results.

I like Dre as our combo forward (notice I said “our”) off the bench. I like running more plays for him in lineups that he doesn’t have to compete for touches.

I also like playing him fewer minutes since he has not shown durability to survive a full season as a starter.

[Diesel]

On 2/10/2024 at 9:18 AM, kg01 said:

[]

The flipside to that though is we need someone with similar size and skill to play the other minutes.  No small task.  We need an OO/Capela arrangement at the big wing spot. 

So if we went:

Starters:   Trae, DJ, Bey, JJ, OO...

Reserves   Bogi, Hunter, CC  

This gives Quin his 8 man rotation??    Most people don't believe but Quin is not going to play a 10 man rotation so all these proposals to bring somebody in are kinda moot unless, we're moving them into the top 8.. .which means that somebody else will have to move. 

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

I like running more plays for him in lineups that he doesn’t have to compete for touches.

This is a big advantage of what I was suggesting.   He can be the #2 scorer off the bench if Bogi would quit pulling. 

 

[RedDawg#8]

4 hours ago, Diesel said:

This is a big advantage of what I was suggesting.   He can be the #2 scorer off the bench if Bogi would quit pulling. 

 

I think Bogi pulling is overall better for the team though.

One of my biggest gripes with this Hawks team is that Bogi should get more plays ran for him than anyone. If we used his gravity the same way the Bud Hawks used Korver, everyone’s life would be easier. Make or miss, he has the ability to knock down threes off the catch better than anyone. Imagine swapping Bogi and Korver on that team. Bogi can make every shot PLUS put the ball on the floor and attack the lane AND pass.

This isn’t to say Bogi needs to have some historic run like Korver, but that he has tangible spacing and basketball skills that translate to Quin’s offense and could open up things for Trae/DJ/Dre to attack vs a scrambled defense.

Gives teams another player to gameplan against than Trae. And it stresses another perimeter defender who has less gas to kill us on offense.

Regarding Dre, I think he can legitimately kill any backup forward 1 on 1. Perhaps we use a three man package with him and Bogi plus whichever PG where Dre is working off ball to free up Bogi and if the defense over extends out on the guards, Dre has an open look to shoot or get downhill to the rim.

[Diesel]

31 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

This isn’t to say Bogi needs to have some historic run like Korver, but that he has tangible spacing and basketball skills that translate to Quin’s offense and could open up things for Trae/DJ/Dre to attack vs a scrambled defense.

Well, I don't think that Bogi would have the same type of gravity that KK had... because in honesty, KK didn't have a lot of gravity.    His shooting was elite, but teams wasn't gameplanning to stop him.   He was on the floor with other guys who could shoot.   We'd just line the perimeter with our shooters and let them go to work.  During that streak, sure, KK was near 50% from Three but you also had Al, you also had Sap, you also had what some people started calling, the Black Kyle Korver and that's a big reason that all of them got into the Allstar game and all of them were the player of the month together. 

 

[Diesel]

35 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Gives teams another player to gameplan against than Trae.

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment.   I think that's the real find we have to make in JJ or DHunter.  JJ needs to be a little more aggressive.   And while Hunter's aggressive seems ticked up, we just need him to play with this kind of passion. 

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I think cutting back on his minutes is a last resort a la Eric Gordon, but it helped save his career so maybe it will help. 

[JayBirdHawk]

He's been on fire off the bench

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[AHF]

I'm not one who says he should always be coming off the bench but fully agree he has been great.  A lot of starters would put up better numbers against backups but it doesn't mean it is best for the team in the long run.  At least with our current roster construction, I think a healthy Hunter still needs to be our starter / closer.  Maybe he plays more minutes in bench lineups to tap into this if he can sustain this dominance.  (The 50% 3pt% seems unsustainable for anyone.)

[macdaddy]

He's played noticeable different on the offensive end.  He's more aggressive but without the wildness or panic.  Honestly he's seemed more focused on D too.  

I don't think it's just playing against weaker players.  If he plays like this he should be the starter for sure.  

Folks don't want to give Bey credit but he's been playing well for a while too.

[theheroatl]

Dre increased his 3p% on more attempts... I'm coming around on him this year a lot. Before and after injury.

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4065732/deandre-hunter

[AHF]

14 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

Dre increased his 3p% on more attempts... I'm coming around on him this year a lot. Before and after injury.

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4065732/deandre-hunter

When he has been healthy, he has been having the best season of his career.

[JayBirdHawk]

I just need him to stay on court! This level of consistency is my expectation going forward.

Along with 5.25 rpg.

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

Consistency is King!

[Wretch]

So my opinion on Hunter hasn't changed since we got Murray.  Health issues aside, I think his biggest limitation has been playing in the shadow of Trae and DJ.  It was more apparent in Nate's "take turns/no 3's" offense, but there's really not a situation where I'd want the ball in Hunter's hands when Trae, Murray, and now JJ are on the floor with him.  I'm happy seeing him finding his groove off the bench.  Offensively at least, he's more useful and has more freedom playing with the 2nd unit.

It's also a win/win as we get to showcase him for potential upgrades.