Hawks' Quin Snyder reveals now De'Andre Hunter found 'balance' in bench role

12/02/2024 06:58 PM

The Atlanta Hawks are on a three-game winning streak heading into their matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, and one of the reasons for their success is the play of De’Andre Hunter. The Hawks’ forward has been playing some of his best basketball, and he’s doing it coming off the bench.

Hunter is averaging 18.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season, and head coach Quin Snyder has been happy with what he’s doing on both sides of the ball this season.

“DeAndre has really embraced some things on the offensive end, and he’s finding a great balance,” Snyder said. “When I say embrace, he’s been aggressive shooting the ball when he’s open. I think sometimes it takes guys a little while to realize – I mean, his case because of his size – sometimes he’s been open when it maybe doesn’t feel like he's open. I think he’s also made good reads in those situations where he’s been able to get to the rim, and then he’s been really opportunistic in his ability to create shots for us.

“So mixing those three things together, and I would even add getting to the foul line. That’s a good combination of versatility. Then the other thing that I would be neglectful if I didn’t bring up just is how consistent he is defensively, wherever the matchup is. We talk a lot about the individual matchups, but he’s someone that takes a lot of pride in what he’s doing off the ball, too, so he’s playing well.”

Health has always been a main factor of Hunter’s success, as he’s only played over 60 games twice in his career. When he’s on the floor, he’s been quite consistent, as he’s been the player that guards the best player player on the opposing team. Now with players such as Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher on the team, the pressure for him to always guard the best player has been taken away, and he’s been able to focus on other things in his game.

De’Andre Hunter becoming a major piece for Hawks’ bench

The past three games have been huge for De’Andre Hunter off the bench. In their first matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Hawks were down big in the first quarter, but Hunter hit a string of shots to get them back into the game, and he finished with 26 points. In their second matchup against the Cavs, Hunter was even more efficient, scoring 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

In their latest matchup against the Charlotte Hornets, Hunter hit two big layups at the end of the game to give the Hawks the lead and finished with 18 points.

If Hunter can continue to bring this play off the bench, he could find himself in Sixth Man of the Year conversations, but the Hawks may be willing to be cautious with how much he plays. Earlier in the season he was out for some games due to right knee injury management, but he also just played in a back-to-back, so it’ll be interesting to see how they plan to manage his playing time.

For now, it looks like Hunter is well fit coming off the bench, and he’s making great strides in his new role.

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