Virginia Basketball: Breakdown of De’Andre Hunter’s Summer League debut
By Trevor Marks
Drafted fourth overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, Virginia Basketball combo forward De’Andre Hunter made his Summer League debut Sunday for the Atlanta Hawks. Here’s a breakdown of all that went down.
The Atlanta Hawks took the biggest gamble of all 30 NBA franchises on the night of the 2019 NBA Draft, swinging for the fences and betting that their top prospect — De’Andre Hunter, 21, Virginia Basketball’s defensive-minded 6-foot-7 forward — was worth trading up for, that he was someone they simply couldn’t miss out on acquiring.
Hunter’s fit on the “baby” Hawks of Atlanta, where he’s to serve as a defensively inclined forward next to the likes of star guard Trae Young and high-flying big man John Collins, is a sensible one on the surface. Young and Collins aren’t necessarily strong defenders (as in, they’re pretty bad, with Young ranking dead-last out of 514 players in Defensive Real Plus-Minus as a rookie), so it’s wise to insulate them with stronger perimeter defenders on the wing and frontcourt.
Hunter, a member of a historically-elite defensive program at Virginia, is viewed widely as an excellent defender, as he was nothing short of a lock-down on-ball stalwart for the Cavaliers throughout his two seasons in college. Travis Schlenk, the GM of the Hawks, is likely positing that such a player is worth adding to a rebuilding franchise, and that he should be added no matter the cost.
But the cost is what makes this play such a risky one.
On draft night, the Hawks sent out a king’s ransom, sending picks No. 8, 17, and 35 over to the New Orleans Pelicans (as well as a protected 2020 Cleveland first-rounder whilst taking back Solomon Hill’s expiring contract and a future second) in return for the No. 4 pick that was acquired by David Griffin in the blockbuster that shipped Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Those three picks would be used to select Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Didi Louzada, a trio a talented youngsters (all younger than Hunter) that are currently tearing Las Vegas up in tantalizing fashion.
Schlenk is betting that Hunter is worth more than any of those players, or whomever they originally could’ve selected had Atlanta held onto those picks. Additionally, they’re betting that the trio of Young, Hunter, and Duke’s Cam Reddish are worth more than Rookie of the Year Luke Doncic and the aforementioned package that they gave up to New Orleans. Last year’s draft saw the Hawks trade back with the Dallas Mavericks, moving back a couple spots to draft Young while also receiving a protected 2019 first-rounder which went on to be used to select Reddish at No. 10.
This is a big gamble, one whose cost is significant. It’s franchise altering, and, with the current optics, it looks to be one that could alter the franchise for the worse unless both Hunter and Reddish outgrow their projected roles significantly. What makes the gamble even more questionable is the fact that Hunter very well could’ve been on the board at No. 8, but for the Hawks, they simply felt like they couldn’t risk missing out on him, whether that fear was warranted or not.
Although Reddish has yet to make his Vegas Summer League appearance, De’Andre Hunter was finally allowed to suit up in a Hawks uniform on Sunday after the trade was able to be finalized with the league.
Hunter’s debut in a 90-66 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves left much to be desired, yet it didn’t show anything that viewers hadn’t seen from the forward before.