Altman accomplished his goal this trade deadline.
Koby Altman, Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations, had one goal this trade deadline: Make the team better. There’s no doubt in his mind that trading for De’Andre Hunter does that.
“We got better,” Koby Altman said when he met with media members via Zoom on Friday afternoon.
“I don’t know how to quantify that. I can’t put that into percentages for you. All I know is we got size and length at the wing now that we can guard multiple positions, and [Hunter] has been a prolific scorer this year that you have to account for on the floor at all times. You get a true two-way wing that you add to this group and it makes us better.”
It isn’t difficult to see how Hunter makes them better. The Cavs have long needed another wing who could shift between playing the three and four that could provide outside shooting. Hunter has done just that this season with the Atlanta Hawks where he averaged 19 points with an effective field goal percentage of 56% in 37 games.
Hunter did most of that damage playing off of Trae Young. Figuring out how to do that with an offense built around Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell shouldn’t be an issue.
“For the most part he plays off the ball,” Altman said. “You saw a lot of ball handling from Trae [Young] this year obviously. He fits what we’re trying to do. This is not a guy that needs the ball right? And so I think he fits in seamlessly.”
This has been seen in his 5.2 catch-and-shoot three-point attempts per game which is the 13th most attempted per game. Adding a 39.3% outside shooter with Hunter’s volume will help the league-leading offense.
“[With his 6’8” size] it’s hard to contest that,” Altman said. “Even if you contest that, he can get that off. And so I think that’s a big part of it, big part of our offense, to have that threat, the fact that you’re going to have to be one step closer to him, because he can get it off very quickly, and he can shoot over people.”
The defensive side of the ball is more of a question mark. Hunter was known as a stout defender out of college, but that hasn’t translated to the NBA as seamlessly.
Altman doesn’t view that as a concern, but sees it as a strength.
“De’Andre Hunter brings tremendous defensive versatility,” Altman said. “I would urge everyone on this call to watch his last game in an Atlanta Hawks uniform where they put him on Victor Wembanyama to guard. Not the easiest cover in the world, if you can imagine, but that shows you his versatility just in terms of guarding fives all the way to perimeter guards to wings.”
Hunter drew the primary defensive assignment on Wembanyama that game. Wemby got his points, but Hunter made him work for them which is all you can do when your opponent is seven inches taller than you.
The play below is an example of that. Hunter does a good job of staying connected to Wemby through the screen, contests the shot, and doesn’t foul. Wembanyama converts the layup, but it’s all you can reasonably ask a defender like that to do.
Hunter did a better job staying with Wemby in isolation. He was able to use his 7’3” wingspan to contest this isolation jumper late to keep the Hawks in the game.
The Cavs won’t need Hunter to guard centers, but they will need him to play the four with Georges Niang no longer on the roster. That’s something Altman is comfortable with Hunter doing.
“Absolutely, absolutely,” Atman said when asked whether Hunter can play power forward. “I think [he can play] three, four, he can play up really good. … He can guard all over the floor and I think there’ll be a lot of times when we see him at the four.”
The Cavs have long needed someone who fits the mold that Hunter does. Dean Wade is the only Cavalier with the size Hunter has on the wing, but Hunter is an exponentially better offensive player who has experience playing well against the Boston Celtics in the playoffs before.
Cleveland’s core has shown they can be a top team in the regular season. They still need to prove that in the playoffs. This move should help them do so this season and into the future.
“We are looking towards the postseason, but DeAndre is 27 right and playing the best basketball of his career,” Altman said. “We’re going to have him under contract for the next two and a half years. He fits our timeline. … There’s a long runway here with this team, and DeAndre fits that.”