De'Andre Hunter had a promising start to his Cleveland Cavaliers tenure.
He was active defensively, bothering an All-Star scorer in Anthony Edward and showing how his size can be a real asset for Cleveland at the 3. He also shot the ball well, hitting three of his four attempts from long-range. He gave the fans and the entire organization a view into the upside of trading for him.
Yet a strong start also masked a reality that the Cavaliers need to be prepared for, one the Atlanta Hawks and their fans know all too well: Hunter is not an elite defender.
For those who watched Hunter in college, that may come as something of a surprise. He was a defensive force, a huge wing who enveloped opposing scorers and keyed an elite Virginia defense that won the NCAA title. He won ACC Defensive Player of the Year and was selected by the coaches as the National Defensive Player of the Year.
Yet even while he was projected as a Top-5 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, largely for his defensive upside, a yellow caution flag was waived by many draft experts: Hunter never got any steals or blocks.
Fans of Hunter attributed that to the Virginia system that he played in, that historically downplays defensive playmaking for solid positioning. Many players have come out of Virginia and increased their steal and block totals in the NBA. Yet the concern was there: a player expected to be elite defensively should have had more "Stocks" than Hunter did.
Unfortunately, those concerns proved to be prescient.
De'Andre Hunter has been a shaky defender in the NBA
Hunter's college reputation and positional size continue to support a reputation of being an elite defender, but the reality is that Hunter has been both inconsistent and limited on that end. Put him in isolation defending an opposing scorer? He's an above-average defender. Ask him to execute team defensive principles, or provide secondary rim protection, or be disruptive in passing lanes? Expect to be disappointed, or at the very least whelmed.
In five of the six seasons of his career, Hunter has had a negative Defensive Box Plus-Minus. The one outlier was in his second season, where he played just 23 games but had his best defensive season by far. Otherwise, Hunter has been a negative defensive player by nearly any advanced metric you can find. This season, while having the best shooting season of his career, he has been an overall negative because his defensive limitations have only exacerbated the problems on a poor defensive team.
Hunter excels as an isolation defender, but a team with mediocre defensive personnel needed someone who could help the overall team defense. Atlanta didn't have that in place. The Cleveland Cavaliers, however, deploy two All-Defense candidates on the back line and have other positive defenders like Max Strus, Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro to fill in beside Hunter. In many lineups with the Cavs, Hunter will have support he simply didn't have in Atlanta.
Yet there will certainly be nights when Hunter's lack of team defensive chops and playmaking impact will obviously hurt the Cavaliers. In particular, his inability to generate blocks and steals is painful.
Hunter has played 301 games since entering the league six seasons ago. In that time, he has accumulated just 206 steals, or an average of two every three games. Of all NBA players who have played at least 200 games in that span, Hunter ranks 189th in the league. Known turnstiles on defense like Duncan Robinson and Josh Giddey have more steals than Hunter. Among that same group, Hunter's 0.7 steals per game ranks 184th. His steal percentage is 274th out of 318 players.
He isn't providing much as a rim protector, either. 124 players in the NBA are at least 6'8" tall and have played in at least 200 games since Hunter entered the league. Hunter ranks a dismal 120th out of those 120 players, just behind names like Kevin Love and Julius Randle. Sam Hauser blocks more shots than Hunter. As does Lauri Markkanen, who recently set a record for lowest block percentage to start a season for a player his size. Josh Giddey, Jordan Nwora, Kyle Kuzma, Kelly Olynyk -- all have a better block percentage than Hunter.
Rarely has a player entered the NBA with such a high defensive opinion, been bad on defense across six seasons of basketball, and maintained such a high defensive opinion around the league. Analysts roundly praised the Cavaliers for adding such an excellent defender.
Hunter's positional size will be an improvement on what Caris LeVert brought, and he has more athleticism and defensive movement than Georges Niang. He will be helped by the defensive support around him in Cleveland, and he will have moments of standout 1-on-1 defense as he did to start the game against Minnesota.
Yet to say he is an elite defender, or will meaningfully raise their defensive ceiling, is largely untrue. Atlanta Hawks fans know that, and Cavaliers fans will likely learn it soon. Hunter is a good palyer, it was a good trade, and it will almost certainly make them a more dangerous team come the playoffs. Most of that is driven by Hunter's shooting and scoring, however, and not his defensive playmaking.
Look at the numbers, and you see a flawed defensive player. The Cavaliers have to hope that is not something that will hurt them come the playoffs.