Going into the 2020-21 season, most fans of the Atlanta Hawks were itching to see if Cam Reddish would take that next big step forward on the path to realizing his tantalizing potential. Few could have predicted that it would be De’Andre Hunter who would burst onto the scene, demonstrating why the Hawks took a chance on him by offering significant value to trade up to the fourth spot in the 2019 NBA Draft. In fact, there is no better indicator of Hunter’s recent success than his addition to the 2021 Rising Stars roster.
With the addition of wing/forward depth pieces during the offseason like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Tony Snell, and Danilo Gallinari, the prevailing expectation was that Hunter’s minutes per game would decrease from the lofty 32.