3 potential wings for Cavs to take with fifth selection in 2019 NBA Draft
De’Andre Hunter
According to ESPN, the fifth-best available player in the upcoming draft is De’Andre Hunter, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound combo forward (per Sports Reference) out of Virginia. Right behind Hunter, ESPN has Texas Tech guard Jarrett Culver as the sixth-best player, and Duke’s Cam Reddish enters the draft as the seventh-best prospect (again, according to ESPN).
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Hunter is a versatile player, who can play multiple positions on the court and more importantly, gives maximum effort on both sides of the floor. He shows excellent agility for his size, is seemingly always playing under control and is always ultra-focused when on the court.
On offense, Hunter averaged 15.2 points per game this past season on 57.9% effective field goal shooting, including an impressive 43.8% clip from three-point range (per Sports Reference). While at Virginia (who won the 2019 NCAA championship), Hunter was reportedly described as a team-oriented player and a leader amongst his teammates.
While there are many things Hunter does well on the court, there is not one specific area where he truly excels. Hunter could fit that mold of a “tweener,” but in an era of positionless basketball, that does not seem to be much of a red flag.
His ability to shoot from all three levels of the court at times (though he has room to grow off the dribble some) as well as play lockdown defense on the other end surely makes him a prospect worth looking at with the fifth overall pick.
Another option for the Cleveland Cavaliers with that No. 5 pick could be Culver; the rising sophomore guard played an instrumental role in Texas Tech making it to their first-ever national championship game in 2019.