De’Andre Hunter‘s inability to excel as a starter has been one of the biggest disappointments for the Cavaliers, Ethan Sands of Cleveland.com stated on a recent edition of The Wine and Gold Podcast (subscription required). Cleveland traded for Hunter at last year’s deadline, hoping he would be the answer in the team’s long search for a small forward to fit in with its four established starters. But Hunter has been more productive in a reserve role and hasn’t started a game since December 14.
Coach Kenny Atkinson decided not to insert Hunter into the starting lineup even with Dean Wade missing four of the past five games with a knee bruise. Sands views that as a sign that Hunter will likely continue to come off the bench for the rest of the season. Hunter is averaging 14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists through 34 games — similar to the numbers he put up after the trade — but his shooting percentages have dropped to 43% from the field and 30.9% from three-point range, both well below his career standards.
The Cavs are “baffled” by Hunter’s failure to fit into a starting role, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com says in the podcast. He notes that Wade’s knee issues and Max Strus‘ continuing recovery from offseason foot surgery have forced Atkinson to field some unusual lineups that wouldn’t be necessary if Hunter were more productive as a starter.
Fedor also raises the question of whether the front office should search for another small forward at the trade deadline to fix a problem it thought was already solved. Either way, Fedor states that the miscalculation with Hunter has strained the rest of the roster.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Darius Garland‘s lingering toe injury has contributed to the Cavaliers‘ early-season struggles, and the team is much better when he’s able to manage the pain, Sands states in a subscriber-only story. Atkinson said Garland looked like “the old DG” Saturday afternoon as he delivered 22 points and six assists in a win over Minnesota. “He’s kind of our catalyst,” Sam Merrill said. “When his pace is great and he’s getting into the paint, it makes things so much easier and so much better for our offense specifically.”
- Bulls coach Billy Donovan said Josh Giddey has started doing on-court work in his recovery from a strained left hamstring, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). No timetable has been set for a return, but Giddey hasn’t experienced any setbacks so far. Donovan provided a couple other medical updates, saying rookie Noa Essengue has resumed lifting weights following season-ending shoulder surgery and Zach Collins‘ toe injury is a “pretty significant sprain.” Donovan added that the team is seeking multiple medical opinions on Collins, and while surgery currently isn’t an option, he’s expected to be in a walking boot for a while.
- Pacers coach Rick Carlisle revealed that center Isaiah Jackson has cleared concussion protocol and is now working on his conditioning, tweets Tony East of Circle City Spin. Jackson is expected back on the court in about a week.
Dre definitely thrives whenever he’s the #1 option offensively, which he’ll never be in the same starting lineup as DMitchell. But he also thrives whenever he plays with an elite pg. Cleveland’s #1 problem this season hasn’t been Dre at all, it’s been Garland’s injury. They’re a title contender when he’s 100% but it’s prob gonna take surgery & rehab for that to happen anytime soon.
There is no team in the league where he is the #1 or 2 option. He has been in the league for 7 years, he has never been viewed on that levels not sure how it can be said he thrives in that. He has only played 60+ games 3 times. He is a solid player but a reserve or 3D starter that won’t have plays run for him specifically.
Pretty sure he means “in a lineup”, which is why he’s on the 2nd unit.
Hunter’s not a good enough shooter to be a true complimentary guy. Last season’s 41 3PT% was a big-time outlier. He’s good at mid-range shots, which don’t make sense when sharing the court w/ Mitchell & Garland.
He’s also not a great 1v1 defender, which the team especially needs since they moved on from Okoro. Moving him for Lonzo has proven to be particularly heinous even though everyone has seemingly hated Okoro from the day he was drafted.
I gotta completely disagree on Dre not being a good enuf shooter or last yr being a big time outlier. He shot 41% from trey last yr & 39% the yr before. He has abt 650 treys on 37% for his career. He hit the gw trey to win the national title in college. He’s proven that he’s more than good enuf as a 3pt shooter. If they woulda kept Ty Jerome or had a healthy DGarland then Dre would still be shooting near 40% from trey this season. I do completely agree that the Okoro for Lonzo trade is a disaster. That trade, Strus’ injury & Garland’s injury are all bigger factors in Cle’s rough start than Dre tho.
If Steph Curry should have taught this generation anything, it’s that Shooters are measured in more than just percentages.
The first four years of Hunter’s career he was 35.6% on 5 attempts per 36. That is an average 3PT shooter, on average to below average volume.
He is assisted on 90% of them. He isn’t creating them off the dribble (which he does on his 2PT jumpers). He isn’t adding value as a shooter. He just takes them when he’s open.
This is a stark contrast from say, Max Strus, who is a career 37 3PT% but does it on significantly higher volume (8.8 att/36). This is why they’re starting Merrill and running super small. It’s similarly why the Bucks are starting AJ Green at SF rather than Kyle Kuzma. These teams desperately need elite 3PT shooting to take advantage of the opportunities their offensive fulcrums create.
He’s the #1 option offensively whenever he comes off the bench. This is the case now & it was the case last yr when he was 1 of the best players off the bench in the league. He very often has plays run for him. In Atl he started majority of his career & as a starter he was a pretty good 2way player overall & a very good player at times. When Quin took over he saw opportunities to unlock Dre by bringing him off the bench & letting him be the #1 option for our 2nd unit as opposed to him being a 2nd or 3rd option behind Trae his ball-dominance in the starting lineup. This led to Dre having the best season of his career last yr & I wanna say he led the league in total pts off the bench.
I can see that if Cavs went full 2nd unit he would be their option to score. Tyson, Strus if healthy, London, Porter are not top scorers.
I would expect Cavs in playoffs to always have 1 of Mitchell, Mobley, or Garland out there. If they did he would get #2 at best.