De'Andre Hunter's Playoff Performances Complicate Atlanta Hawks Plans

The 24-year-old is making his case for a rookie contract extension.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

One of the many reasons I prefer earlier seasons of The Office is because Pam and Jim are less insufferable. Way before they got married and began flaunting their relationship in front of anyone and everyone (most notably, Roy, Toby, Karen, and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin staff), the two played the 'will-they-won't-they' game for the first couple of seasons.

Show writer and actor B.J. Novak (Ryan) described the early stages of Pam and Jim's relationship as a spiderweb. Sometimes if the light hits the webbing just right, you can see the beautiful, intricate details. Other times, it's invisible. That feels like an appropriate analogy for De'Andre Hunter's future role with the Atlanta Hawks. 

The 24-year-old leads the Hawks with 17.8 points (60 TS%) per game in the playoffs series against the Miami Heat. This comes on the heels of an up-and-down third season where he regressed in almost every major statistical category. For every promising game, there were multiple head-scratching outings.

As we stand on the precipice of an incredibly long offseason, I don't want to get into contract discussions and player evaluations too soon. But Hunter's impressive play in the playoffs complicates matters for Atlanta's front office.

Travis Schlenk made it clear the organization was betting on Hunter when they dealt his 2019 classmate Cam Reddish to the New York Knicks for essentially some signed merch and a selfie with Spike Lee back in January (just kidding, they got Kevin Knox and a draft pick - both of which will languish on the bench). But how much is Schlenk willing to wager on Hunter? This summer, the 6'8" wing becomes eligible for a rookie extension worth up to $184 million over five years.

Obviously, Hunter is not getting maxed out. The 'Baby Kawhi' comparisons got buried along with the Hawks' hopes of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals again. However, he will get paid as the Hawks organization remains high on what he brings to the team. Even if his ceiling isn't that of the 'Klaw,' Hunter is the team's only wing who plays a lick of defense. 

When the Hawks season ends, which could be as early as tomorrow night, there will be plenty of fallout and finger-pointing. When the debris settles, the front office will have to align its vision with the ownership group, which is uncomfortable flirting with the luxury tax (projected $149 million).

Like the early seasons of The Office, the cast of characters in Atlanta are still young. The starting lineup's average age is 24.5 years old. But much like when Pam traded the iPod for Jim's teapot at the Christmas party, Atlanta's front office may have made a mistake by valuing emotions over logic when they ran it back with the same squad as last year. Let's see if the blissful mistakes of 2021 are repeated in 2022.

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