De’Andre Hunter isn’t know for being a loud guy. In fact, it’s the opposite with teammates often encouraging the 23-year-old to use his voice and talk more.
That’s why it was funny to see the usually calm and collected Hunter get a technical foul after making a comment to a referee in last Monday’s win over the Timberwolves.
“That was something we were laughing about on the bench, too, is ‘Oh, Dre finally spoke enough to get a T,’” third-year wing Kevin Huerter said.
For a while now, Hunter has felt that calls haven’t been going in his favor, so he decided to speak up about it. Everyone on the bench, including Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce, loved to see it.
“You’re starting to see some fire,” Pierce said. “You’re starting to see some passion. You’re starting to see some intensity from a guy who’s pretty reserved, and I like his level of engagement. And that was just an example of it (Monday). He’s attacking the rim, he didn’t think he was getting calls, they called a foul on him, he was just trying to make his point about his ability to attack, and he wants to be rewarded.”
Off the court, Hunter may be a quieter guy flying under the radar, but on the court he’s starting to stand out more and more.
Fast forward six days, and Hunter showed his authority in a different manner, putting up a career-high 33 points (13-for-21 from the field, 2-5 from 3, 5-6 FT) and leading the comeback effort against the Bucks, though the Hawks fell short, 129-115.
With no Trae Young or Clint Capela, the Hawks desperately needed someone to step up, and Hunter did so. So far this season, Hunter has drastically improved from his up-and-down rookie campaign. Already a good defender, Hunter has been the most consistent scoring presence on offense, and he’s excelling in a few different ways, allowing them to get creative and feature him more, even if he’s not usually the focal point of the offense. He has helped the Hawks, who last season didn’t reach eight wins until Jan. 4 at 8-28, to an 8-8 start.
“His game is similar to his personality,” Pierce said. “He’s just steady… I think the steady part of his game is the balance, the balance in which he plays and the balance in which we can use him.”
Hunter may be soft-spoken, Pierce added, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a force to be reckoned with.
“I think he’s probably one of our wittier guys,” Pierce said. “He’s always got a comeback, he’s always got something, it’s just really soft-spoken. You’ve got to be next to him to hear it. But you’re not going to just pick on Dre. He’ll go right back at you aggressively.”
As far as how the Hawks can use Hunter: They can post him. They can space him. He’s doing a better job of not settling for the first shot opportunity, but driving and attacking the rim, and he’s getting to the line more. He’s also grown much more comfortable handling the ball and making reads.
Last season as a rookie, Hunter averaged 12.3 points in 32 minutes per game, shot 41% from the field and about league-average from 3-point range at 35.5%, taking 2.3 free-throw attempts per game (going 76.4% from the line). So far this season, he’s averaging 17.4 points in in 32.4 minutes per game, shooting 52% from the field, 39.1% from 3-point range and taking four free-throw attempts per game (going 86.7% from the line).
He’s the team’s second-highest scorer behind Young (25.3 points per game) and is playing the second-most amount of minutes per game behind Young’s 33.3.
For Hunter, the leap he’s taking this season is pretty easy to explain. He had tons of time on his hands during quarantine and during the off-season to work out on his own (the Hawks’ season was suspended March 11, and they never got to finish their final 15 games, with only a brief team minicamp before this season’s shortened training camp began).
He spent a lot of it watching film, and trying to figure out what he could do better from his rookie year. Hunter (6-8, 225) paid special attention to power forwards that are around his size who find success drawing fouls.
“When you watch film, you can criticize yourself, you can critique yourself, and that’s what I did,” Hunter said. “I just tried to implement those thing that I learned from watching film on myself and actually doing it in a game. It’s been working so far.”
Hunter has the kind of confidence and the kind of perfectionist tendencies, Pierce said, where he gets mad if he misses a shot in practice.
There are still things Hunter can work on, whether it’s becoming a more disruptive defender (he’s always going to draw tough matchups, whether it’s Kevin Durant, CJ McCollum or D’Angelo Russell) or getting in better shape, so he can handle the increased role he’s playing for the Hawks.
“He’s hard on himself, extremely hard on himself,” Pierce said. “When you work with that type of intensity, with that type of pressure on yourself, you see the type of results that we’re seeing in Dre. I just joked with him, it seems like anytime he hits three shots in a row, he gets tired, so we’ve got to get him in better shape, but it’s a new role for a guy like him, who we can feature at times. It’s a new role for him, and he’s got to be able to handle it physically and mentally, but I think he really believes in the work that he puts in and he’s dedicated to the work and we’re seeing the results of that.”
Capela, who was standing near Hunter when he got that technical foul, has enjoyed watching Hunter’s game mature, and wants to keep hearing Hunter’s voice more and more.
“I think it’s really been amazing to see that and I think that he really has a chance to be special,” Capela said. “... I think that it’s good for him, especially, a guy who (doesn’t) necessarily express himself, I think it’s good that he got it out and even let the refs know, the league know his presence. We need that from him, we want that from him. And I always tell him, defensively, ‘Talk to me, too, I want to hear you. I don’t just want you to be a good player, no, we want to hear your voice, as well. It’s important for us.’”
About the Author
