CLEVELAND — The De'Andre Hunter hype train doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
At a recent preseason media availability with local reporters, a question was asked to Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson about "fixing" the small forward position in the wake of Max Strus ' foot surgery.
President of basketball operations Koby Altman made sure to answer it.
"I thought we fixed that at the deadline with De'Andre Hunter ," Altman said.
Hunter played 27 games with the Cavs after the trade deadline deal that sent Caris LeVert , Georges Niang and a package of draft picks and swaps to the Atlanta Hawks . The Cavs were in the midst of their best stretch of the regular season at the time, so Hunter's inclusion wasn't yet as widespread while he found his footing with the roster.
As Altman said a few weeks ago, when he was acquired the Cav s were rolling to such a degree that Hunter didn't want to detract too much from what was working.
"We were getting to know him. We didn't realize how multifaceted he is offensively," Altman said. "As he's trying to fit in, [he could] space the corner, a few plays were run for him, but [it was] us realizing how much more he has to elevate this group on both sides of the ball."
Now, the Cavs feel it's all systems go with Hunter's implementation. Hunter figures to play a high-minutes role as a rotational forward. After the "core four," perhaps no player on the Cavs roster is as important to their lofty goals when it comes to the playoffs.
"He's probably, arguably, been our best player in open gym and offseason workouts, and we saw that carry over to tonight," Atkinson said after the Cavs' preseason game against the Chicago Bulls Oct. 7. "He was really good [at the team's training camp in Florida]. Didn't surprise me."
In that game, Hunter was the best player on the floor, scoring 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor in 17 minutes. It reached the point that Larry Nance Jr. jokingly tried to shake his hand during the game to "get some of that good juju."
As Nance answered questions in the locker room after the game, he called to forward Nae'Qwan Tomlin and asked, "When's the last time you've seen Dre miss a shot? A few months ago?"
"That looked like Kawhi Leonard to me," Nance said of Hunter's game. "I mean, he's been tabbed the offseason MVP because of how he's been performing with all these team get-togethers and stuff like that. … Dre is a bucket, man."
Hunter was in the running for Sixth Man of the Year at the time of the trade. The Cavs could utilize him in a number of different ways and lineups, especially to start the season with Darius Garland (toe surgery) and Strus both expected to miss time.
"He's got the size to be able to post you up, he's got the mid-range game that obviously smaller guys can't keep up with," Nance said of Hunter. 'Obviously you have to guard him from 3, but [he can] handle enough to keep you off the bounce. He's pretty much a mismatch no matter who you put on him."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter has been 'offseason MVP'
