This Cleveland Cavaliers player has a lot to prove heading into the new NBA season.
Last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers swung a big move at the NBA trade deadline, acquiring De'Andre Hunter in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Cavaliers needed a larger wing who could score to help stabilize the rotation, and they got it. In 27 games with Cleveland last season, Hunter averaged 14.3 points and 4.2 rebounds over 25 minutes per game on 48.5/42.6/82.1 shooting splits. That also came with Hunter making just two starts.
With Max Strus sidelined to start the 2025-26 campaign, Hunter will almost certainly be starting for the Cavs come opening night, and in his first full season with the club, he will represent a crucial element in the Cavaliers' title chances.
But is Hunter up to the challenge? Fred Katz of The Athletic wonders, calling this the "highest-pressure situation" of Hunter's NBA career.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter. Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images."The Cavaliers are the odds-on favorites to win the Eastern Conference, even after losing reserve firecracker Ty Jerome, who they replaced with veteran guard Lonzo Ball, a defensive menace and fabulous passer who won’t release as many off-balanced floaters in a lifetime as Jerome does in a nanosecond. It’s now on Hunter to provide oomph off the bench," Katz wrote. "That doesn’t mean Cleveland will place the basketball in Hunter’s hands and tell him to go. That’s not his game. But it does mean the Cavs are leaning on a player who was inconsistent during his early career in Atlanta. What if last season was a blip, not a sign of what’s to come?"
Hunter was originally selected by the Hawks with the fourth overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft. While the 27-year-old was solid in Atlanta, he never fully lived up to expectations, registering lifetime averages of 14.8 points and 4.1 rebounds on 44.9/36.8/81.9 shooting splits throughout his tenure with the club.
So while Hunter played well upon arriving in Cleveland midway through last season, it will certainly be interesting to see if the University of Virginia product can maintain his level of performance.
It's also important to note that Darius Garland is slated to miss some time early on while recovering from offseason toe surgery, so the Cavaliers may rely on Hunter quite a bit in the beginning stages of the upcoming campaign.
We'll see how Hunter responds and whether or not last year's impressive showing was just a flash in the pan.