De’Andre Hunter is making a strong case for NBA Sixth Man of the Year

In the first five seasons of De’Andre Hunter’s NBA career, the former UVA basketball champion started in 237 of the 263 games he played. This season, Hunter has been moved to the bench and has only started two of the 20 games he has played in so far this year.

How is Hunter dealing with this move to the bench?

Well, he’s currently one of the leading candidates for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award and is having by far the best season of his professional basketball career.

Hunter is averaging 20.3 points per game, nearly five points more than his previous career-high of 15.6 points per game last season. He shoots 44.0% from three-point range; his previous best in this category was 38.5% last season. He is shooting 48.7% from the floor and 89.9% from the free throw line, which are also career highs. Hunter is close to qualifying for the prestigious 50-40-90 club. He has scored 25 or more points in three of his last four games and has scored at least 20 points 13 times this season, the most of any reserve player in the NBA.

With Hunter thriving off the bench, the Atlanta Hawks are 16-15 overall and are currently the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Here are the current odds for the 2025 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, according to BetMGM:

1. Payton Pritchard (-290)
2. De’Andre Hunter (+600)
3. Santi Aldama (+1600)
4. Amen Thompson (+2500)
5. Buddy Hield (+3500)

Of course, there’s still a lot of time left in the season, but oddsmakers seem to be viewing this as a matchup between De’Andre Hunter and Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard at the moment. Hunter and Pritchard faced off during Virginia’s run to the 2019 National Champion, with UVA defeating Oregon 53-49 in the Sweet Sixteen.

Here are the stats for both players at this point in the season. It is worth noting that Pritchard played ten more games than Hunter, who was sidelined due to injury. However, both players should qualify for the Sixth Man of the Year award, as the only rule for this award is that the player comes off the bench in fewer games than he starts in the regular season.

Payton Pritchard: 15.3 ppg, 3.2 apg, 3.7 rpg, 46.7% FG, 41.4% 3pt FG, 28.7 mpg
De’Andre Hunter: 20.3 ppg, 1.3 apg, 4.1 rpg, 48.7% FG, 44.0% 3pt FG, 28.2 mpg

Hunter averages more points per game (by five points) than Pritchard and shoots better from the floor and from distance in slightly fewer minutes but essentially the same playing time. Hunter has better numbers, but Pritchard is on the better team as the defending NBA champion Celtics are currently second in the Eastern Conference at 22-8.

There’s still a long way to go, but with the way De’Andre Hunter is playing right now, he could become the second former Wahoo to be named NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Malcolm Brogdon won the award in the 2022–2023 NBA season with the Celtics, becoming the first UVA alum to ever win the award and only the second player in NBA history to win both NBA Rookie of the Year awards Year and Sixth Man of the Year won in the same profession.

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