It’s time for the Cleveland Cavaliers to step up.
The team had an incredible regular season last year, but fell painfully short in the playoffs, and fans won’t forget that.
They want to see everyone across the board do better in 2025-26, including newcomer De’Andre Hunter.
Speaking on the Wine and Gold podcast, Ethan Sands called out Hunter specifically.
“De’Andre Hunter needs to perform whether you’re in the starting lineup, whether you’re coming off the bench,” Sands emphasized, via Cleveland.com. “You have to perform this coming season because you are who the Cavs thought they needed to take this thing to the next step.”
Hunter came to the Cavaliers at the mid-way point last season.
When he moved from the Atlanta Hawks, most Cavaliers fans envisioned Hunter as someone who could help the team in huge ways, including in the starting five.
In the end, he averaged 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists during his 27 games in Cleveland, starting in five of them.
In the first half of the season, he produced 19.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists for the Hawks.
No one would say that Hunter did poorly with the Cavs, but everyone agrees that he will need to try to dig deeper and produce even more in the season ahead.
If he is seen as a crucial part of the starting five, he needs to act like it.
Hunter will have to improve, but that’s true for multiple stars.
It’s clear that the problems within the roster run deep, and that’s what got in Cleveland’s way in the postseason.
If they hope to redeem themselves in the months ahead, the entire squad will have to right their wrongs and get back on track.
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