De'Andre Hunter having up-and-down season for Cavaliers

The 2025-26 season started on an encouraging note for De'Andre Hunter. The 6-foot-8, 227-pounder moved into the Cavaliers' starting lineup after being a candidate for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year the season before. However, he was ultimately benched because of poor play. That led to unsubstantiated rumors that he wanted to be traded, something he denied. There is interest around the league in Hunter, with the trade deadline Feb. 5. Fans will find out soon whether he's traded for the second year in a row. Either way, he's had an up-and-down season, though he fired in 19 points Wednesday in a 129-99 destruction of the Los Angeles Lakers. Hunter, 28, is averaging 13.9 points, his lowest since the 2020-21 season in Atlanta. His field-goal percentage of .422 is his lowest since his rookie year in 2019-20, while his 3-point accuracy is a career-low .309. Coach Kenny Atkinson was encouraged by Hunter's performance against the Lakers. "That was Dre last season," he said. "That was exactly him, scoring in isolation, switching on strong offensive players and stopping them. We have to get him going. It's high priority for our coaching staff. He's too good to be playing like he's been playing. Sometimes you have a game like this on a big stage, it can get you headed in the right direction." Cleveland (29-20) certainly could use that kind of play out of Hunter with power forward Evan Mobley sidelined 1-3 weeks with a calf strain. Mobley will likely miss the entire five-game West Coast trip that starts tonight in Phoenix. The Cavs, who have won five in a row, are heading into their longest trip of the season on a high note. They've held their opponents to fewer than 100 points in back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 8-10, 2024. The Lakers' game was the fifth time this season they've held an opponent to double digits. Hunter said Cleveland has to be "defensive-minded" heading out west. "It's something we've talked about all year, and we're starting to buy into that," he said. "We're playing aggressively on defense. If we play that kind of defense night in and night out, we'll be successful." "We did it without Evan, (our NBA) Defensive Player of the Year," Atkinson said. "We're doing it as a group. We're doing it with the young guys. They are making fewer mistakes." The Cavs will face some potent offensive teams on the trip, starting with the Suns. They also play Portland on Sunday, the improving Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, Sacramento on Feb. 7 and Denver on Feb. 9. They don't return home until Feb. 11 against Washington. After having more than its share of trouble early in the season, Cleveland has outrebounded each of its last seven opponents. Hunter is averaging 4.3 rebounds, his highest figure since 2020-21. He pulled down just three rebounds against the Lakers, though the Cavs won the battle of the boards 46-36. "I've been better," Hunter said. "It's tough at times with (Mobley) and (Jarrett Allen) out there. I don't want to take rebounds away from them. I try to get the ones I can get. Over the last few games, I've been rebounding well. I'm just looking to keep that up." The former University of Virginia standout, now in his eighth NBA season, recorded his highest scoring output Wednesday since scoring 27 points on Dec. 22 against the Charlotte Hornets. It was the ninth time this season he's scored at least 19 points. "You have to keep shooting your shots, and you'll make more than you miss," he said. "You've just got to keep shooting them. "You're not going to have success in this league if you come in timid or not confident. You have to keep stacking them." Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell said he's looking forward to the road trip. "We're going to be on the road for 10 or 11 days," he said. "It's going to be a great trip. We have to continue to take it step by step. We've been playing solid basketball. "It's a mentality shift. We're finding a way to be mentally tough. Are we going to continue to fight? That's what you're seeing. We have to find a way to keep going." Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.