De’Andre Hunter Making 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 a bench role, starting just two of the 20 games he has played in so far this year.

How is Hunter handling that move to the bench?

Well, he’s currently one of the frontrunners 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 better than his previous career-high of 15.6 points per game last season. He is shooting 44.0% from three-point range; his previous best in that category was 38.5% last season. He is shooting 48.7% from the floor and 89.9% from the free throw line, which are both career-high marks as well. Hunter is very 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, most among all bench players 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)

There is a lot of season left, of course, but the oddsmakers seem to see this as a two-horse race right now between De’Andre Hunter and Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard. 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 the two players at this point in the season. It should be noted that Pritchard has played in 10 more games than Hunter, who missed time with an injury. But both players should be eligible for the Sixth Man of the Year Award, as the only rule for that award is that the player comes off the bench in less 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 is averaging more points per game (by five points) than Pritchard and is shooting better from the floor and from beyond the arc in slightly less minutes, but essentially the same amount of playing time. Hunter has better numbers, but Pritchard is on the better team, as the reigning NBA Champion Celtics are currently second in the Eastern Conference at 22-8.

There is a long way to go, but with the way De’Andre Hunter is playing right now, he could become the second former Wahoo to win 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 just the second player in NBA history to win both the NBA Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year awards in the same career.

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