De’Andre Hunter’s right knee was so swollen ahead of Game 5 against the Knicks in the playoffs last season that he didn’t think he was going to play. His knee was so stiff that he could barely move it. In the hours leading up to the series-clinching game, he underwent treatment with the hopes of the swelling subsiding and the pain decreasing. He played 35 minutes that night and was effective on both ends of the floor, scoring 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and helping limit Julius Randle to 8-of-21 shooting.
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“After that game, I couldn’t do much,” Hunter told The Athletic. “It was just gradually swelling up over time.”
Before Game 1 against the Sixers in the second round, Hunter had an MRI that discovered a tear in his lateral meniscus, the same meniscus he tore in late January. Hunter stayed with the Hawks for their first two games in Philadelphia, his hometown, before flying to Los Angeles for surgery and rehab. Hunter remained in Los Angeles throughout the summer before returning to Atlanta on Sept. 1 for the lead-up to Hawks training camp.
Hunter rehabbed five to six days a week, working on strengthening not only his knee but his quadriceps, calf and hamstring to give the knee adequate support. Before he was cleared for running and jumping, he did hours of work on his ballhandling and dribbling, two areas that were noticeably better for him at the start of last season before his injury. By the time Hunter was ready for movement shooting drills, a lot of his focus was on off-the-dribble shot-making, particularly in the midrange. Hunter believes he can be a great midrange player and said, “That’s my money spot. That’s cash,” when I told him he shot 54 percent, albeit in only 23 regular-season games.
The looming question with Hunter is if he’ll still have that same burst he had prior to two meniscus surgeries in the span of a few months. All indications are positive so far. He’s practiced with no restrictions, and his expectation is he’ll be fully ready to go by Game 1 of the regular season. Olin Simplis, his on-court trainer who worked with him this offseason, saw up close how Hunter looked in the months after surgery in early June.
“His movement off the dribble, his first step on pull-ups, his first step in change of direction pull-ups were all pretty explosive and crisp,” Simplis said.
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“I don’t look at it as anything that will slow him down moving forward, especially with today’s treatment and recovery. Guys are coming back from injury better than ever before. I think he’s going to be the same player and keep evolving and growing into the player that we saw last year and who we saw from Day 1 in our (pre-)draft process.”
Joe Smith, one of Hunter’s two agents from Wasserman, added that Hunter’s procedure was “a simple surgery” and there will be no limitations and nothing holding him back this season.
“We have no concerns. We’re not worried at all,” Smith said.
Hunter tore his meniscus in late January before returning for two games in late March then being shut down until the end of the regular season. The swelling returned after that second game and wouldn’t subside even after treatment. Hunter said he wasn’t 100 percent healthy but felt good enough to play, which is why he initially returned. The training staff also agreed he was fine to play. In hindsight, Hunter said he would’ve come back later than he did, but he doesn’t blame anybody in the process and is just focused on coming back stronger.
“I just want to show people that I got better,” Hunter said. “I’ve been working on my game as much as I can given the surgery. I want to show everyone I’m better this year. As a team, we want to improve upon what we did last year. We want to go to the playoffs, we want to go to the conference finals and we want to go to the finals. That’s our goal, and we’re not going to say it’s not.”
Hunter said he was “pissed” that he couldn’t play and help the Hawks after the first round of the playoffs. He watched every game in Los Angeles with two friends, wishing he could have gotten the experience in the conference finals in his second season in the league.
Solomon Hill, whom Hunter calls a big brother, believes that if Hunter were healthy, the Hawks possibly could have won the title. Hill isn’t the only one who feels that strongly about Hunter’s importance. Throughout the Hawks’ postseason run, multiple players mentioned how having Hunter on the floor changes things. That’s why everyone in the organization is hoping that Hunter’s 19-game stretch before his first meniscus surgery was just the start of a promising career.
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“He’s self-motivated and self-driven,” Hill said. “He’ll come out here and miss some shots and be more mad than anyone in the gym. He’s just a workaholic. He was a champion (at Virginia). He knows what it takes to win. What he was able to do for that first quarter of the season, he was probably one of the most consistent players we had on the court. Defensively, he’s locked in. He’s no bitch on the defensive end. I believe in him and Cam (Reddish) as two-way players. I love ‘Dre. I know what he can do out there. I believe if we had ‘Dre, our chances are through the roof.”
Those who worked closely with Hunter prior to the start of last season knew something special was brewing. Hunter felt like he was just sticking to his role in his rookie season, which was more of a catch-and-shoot guy on offense and guarding either the No. 1 or No. 2 wing option most nights, and he didn’t want to be defined by his role.
He felt like, given the circ*mstances of the team, he played well as a rookie; however, it was clear in his sophom*ore season that he was an entirely new version of himself. We didn’t see the off-the-dribble creation for himself and others like we saw last season. We didn’t see his ability to get to his spots in the midrange and dominate. We especially didn’t see the reason why the Hawks drafted him in the first place, which was to be a lockdown defender after winning the NCAA’s award for best college defender. Hunter simply looked like someone who could develop into a star at arguably the most important position on both ends of the floor.
Vince Carter, Hunter’s teammate in his rookie season, mentioned last season how noticeable and different Hunter’s level of confidence was. Hunter agreed that he felt more comfortable last season. He trusted the work he put in prior to the season was going to translate, and it did.
“If you go into a test at school and you didn’t study, you’re going to be nervous,” Smith, his agent, said. “If you studied and know all of the material, you’re not nervous because you know it. My fourth grader isn’t nervous if he has a test on the ABCs; he knows that. That’s kind of like what De’Andre’s mindset was. He knew he could do it at that level, and he was going to show you. Anybody who tried to challenge him (in the offseason), he let them know that he was coming different this season.”
In his conversations with Hunter this offseason, Simplis said Hunter feels like the Hawks are building something special and he can’t wait to get back on the floor because of the potential this team has. Simplis said he had to slow down Hunter this offseason because of how amped he was to return. Simplis’ workouts include what he calls “fourth-quarter legs,” which includes a full weight-room workout and then executing on-court drills with tired legs because that’s what NBA players tend to play on throughout the course of an 82-game season. Hunter thrived in those conditions.
When Hunter was told that Hill said he felt like he was the missing piece for the Hawks’ title hopes last season, he responded with confidence.
“I just have to prove him to be right,” Hunter said.
(Photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)
Chris Kirschner is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New York Yankees. He previously covered the Atlanta Hawks from 2018-2022 for The Athletic. Chris was named Georgia's Sportswriter of the Year in 2021 for his work covering the Hawks. Chris is a native of Bronx, NY. Follow Chris on Twitter @chriskirschner
