Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly taking training wheels off of potential star

The Cleveland Cavaliers faced hardships at the wing position early in the Donovan Mitchell era, struggling to find the right fit, someone who could offer a mix of shooting, defense, and overall ability to perfectly complement the team's star-studded core from the three spot.

On February 6th, 2025, the Cavs acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks. Hunter was having a career year in Atlanta, where he was a contender for the Sixth Man of the Year award. He was considered the perfect fit with the Cavs—capable of creating his own offense while being a consistent shooting threat and a solid defender for Cleveland.

This type of player archetype is essential to winning championships in today's NBA. Players like Jalen Williams, Jaylen Brown, and Aaron Gordon exemplify the bigger wing archetype that can make a difference in the playoffs.

In the regular season, things seemed to be going well enough with Hunter. Though his scoring dipped, that was expected coming to a roster with more weapons, and Hunter still had his scoring outbursts for Cleveland. Things didn’t work out as seamlessly in the playoffs, with Hunter only averaging 11 points and missing some time due to injury.

This year, though, Cleveland is planning to fully unleash Hunter and make the absolute most out of him that they can from someone who was playing at an All-Star level in Atlanta, with averages of 19 PPG and 4 RPG while shooting nearly 40% from three.

On the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast, the focus was on getting Hunter as acclimated and involved as possible: “This includes experimenting with him in various lineups to determine how he can best contribute, such as driving offense with the second unit or initiating plays alongside Evan Mobley.”