Analyst Exposes 'Painful' Concern for Cavaliers' De'Andre Hunter

The Cleveland Cavaliers swung a major deal at the NBA trade deadline, acquiring forward De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks.

The Cavaliers had been seeking out Hunter since last year, so it was nice for them to finally get their man. However, Hunter does come with some caveats.

Josh Cornelissen of King James Gospel has zeroed in on one significant drawback of Hunter's, expressing concern over his lack of defensive acumen.

"Hunter's college reputation and positional size continue to support a reputation of being an elite defender, but the reality is that Hunter has been both inconsistent and limited on that end," Cornelissen wrote. "Put him in isolation defending an opposing scorer? He's an above-average defender. Ask him to execute team defensive principles, or provide secondary rim protection, or be disruptive in passing lanes? Expect to be disappointed, or at the very least underwhelmed."

Hunter was certainly impressive offensively during his debut in Cleveland, scoring 12 points while making three three-pointers in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, while Cornelissen acknowledges what Hunter brings to the table as a scorer, he went as far to call the lesser aspects of his game "painful."

"Yet there will certainly be nights when Hunter's lack of team defensive chops and playmaking impact will obviously hurt the Cavaliers," Cornelissen added. "In particular, his inability to generate blocks and steals is painful."

The 27-year-old has averaged 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks per game over the course of his NBA career, and while getting steals and blocks is not necessarily the hallmark of being a good defender, Hunter's poor defensive net rating lends credence to the notion that he is not exactly adept on that end of the floor.

Luckily, the Cavs do have some other other good defenders to help mask Hunter's deficiencies, but we'll see if his pedestrian defensive capabilities ultimately hurt the Cavaliers come playoff time.

Remember: Cleveland traded a pretty solid defender in Caris LeVert in exchange for Hunter, so it may have downgraded a bit in that area.

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