De’Andre Hunter wouldn’t heal Cavs lingering wing issues

Hunter would be an upgrade, but may not be enough of one to push the Cavs over the top.

A key flaw for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the last few seasons has been their lack of wing depth, specifically size. Isaac Okoro is a good one-on-one defender and Max Strus is a good shooter who plays with energy, but Dean Wade is the perfect combination of size, shooting, and active hands that the Cavs need. The problem is that he cannot stay healthy, which is unlikely to change suddenly.

The Cavs desperately missed Wade in their 112-105 loss to the Boston Celtics, a deflating game that highlighted that glaring issue of size on the wing. Without Wade and Okoro, the Cavs were forced to go to Georges Niang.

That did not go well.

So, unsurprisingly, the rumor mill has started churning once again. The Cavs are reportedly showing interest in Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, a 6’8” wing who can play either the three or the four depending on the lineup. Hunter, a close friend of Cavs backup point guard Ty Jerome from their days at the University of Virginia, is shooting 38.6% from three-point territory this season in 36 games. The run of good health, solid play, and a larger frame is, on paper, exactly what the Cavs need. But it isn't a perfect fit.

The Cavs have been interested in Hunter for a while, dating all the way back to the 2019 NBA Draft. There was an internal discussion then about drafting Hunter over Darius Garland should the former be there with the 5th overall pick (he wasn’t). So there is some knowledge base there from the front office already.

When healthy, Hunter has been pretty good. He is averaging career-best in points per game (18.9) and three-point field goal percentage (38.6%) on a career-low 28.5 minutes per game. His larger frame would immediately give the Cavs the bigger body that they desperately need either in the starting lineup or off the bench. Hunter has primarily been a starter in his career but has almost exclusively come off the bench this season. Even if Hunter is a little overrated on the defensive side of the ball, playing for a title contender like the Cavs should surely energize him. Cleveland is also a much better defensive team in general, so Hunter would not be relied upon as heavily to defend the opposing team’s best player.

It isn't a perfect fit, though. Hunter’s durability is the biggest concern, a common theme already with the Cavs’ wing rotation. His injury history is laden with missed games, sometimes significant chunks, due to knee injuries. Hunter has undergone several surgeries to address the issues, including a meniscus surgery in 2021, and has reaggravated the injury of the same knee several times since then. In December 2023 he had a non-surgical procedure for the same knee, missed a month, and did not play extensively after that. After playing in the first two games of this season, Hunter was added back to the injury report for the same tricky knee.

Hunter’s reputation as a good defender is also largely unfounded since his time in college when he was compared to Khris Middleton. The Hawks are better defensively with Hunter off the floor than on, though that could be a byproduct of a bad team in general. Essentially, the Hawks are four points per 100 possessions better on offense with Hunter playing and four points per 100 possessions worse on defense at the same time.

The need for a big wing was exacerbated by the troubling loss to the Celtics, but the Cavs should tread lightly with who they try and acquire to rectify the issue. Given their cap situation and limited expendable assets, Koby Altman and the front office can make one move this season to solve their issues. Hunter solves some of them, but not in a meaningful enough way to empty the barren cupboard.