After the Trade Deadline, How Are DeAndre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic Performing On Their New Teams?

The Atlanta Hawks weren't the most active team in the NBA at the 2024-25 trade deadline, but they made two trades that significantly reshaped their roster. First, they sent out De'Andre Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, two second-round picks and two pick swaps, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

By practically every metric, Hunter was having his best season to date. At the time of the trade, he was averaging 19 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 46.1/39.3/85.8 shooting splits to pair with great defense on the wing and consistent offense off the bench. He is a real contender for Sixth Man of the Year and was a bright spot in an up-and-down year for the Hawks.

If his first two games as a Cavalier are any indication, it appears Cleveland is getting exactly what they paid for. His first game in a Cavs uniform ended with Hunter scoring 12 points and connecting on three of his four shots from deep in a 128-107 blowout of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Cavaliers really needed another shooter with length who can play solid defense and that's exactly what Hunter has given them so far. His first bucket as a Cavalier came off a screen from Evan Mobley that freed up Hunter for an open three that he made without hesitation. However, Hunter's second game was even better. In a 131-108 blowout of the Toronto Raptors, he scored 18 points and grabbed 5 boards while hitting four of his nine attempts from deep. Once again, he showed a quick trigger on his threes while also draining a nice midrange shot and finishing over R.J Barrett.

However, in his absence, Atlanta has gotten a lot out of LeVert and Niang. Both were instrumental towards almost taking down the Knicks in overtime, each scoring 20+ points apiece. They have been instant offense off the bench and given Atlanta scoring outside of Trae Young. LeVert's overall activity has really stood out while Niang's consistent trigger on catch-and-shoot threes has replicated Hunter's impact in the aggregate. It remains to be seen what the Hawks' plan is for replacing Hunter in the future, but they have been able to navigate his departure well immediately after the trade.

Their second move was to send Bogdanovic and three second-round picks to the Clippers in exchange for Terance Mann and Bones Hyland.

Bogdan Bogdanovic's impact post-trade has been harder to gauge. He was having a down season this year for the Hawks, shooting a ghastly 30.1% from deep on six attempts a game. Now, his track record tells a different story. He's a career 38% shooter from the three-point line and he hasn't shot below 36% from deep for a season since entering the NBA. Considering how bad Atlanta has been on three-pointers this year, Bogdanovic regressing to the mean would have been an enormous help.

So far, the numbers would say things aren't going much better in Los Angeles thus far. He connected on one of his two attempts from deep, but only scored seven points in the 128-114 win over Memphis. However, his gravity as a shooter and activity off-ball has been helpful towards the Clippers' offense. In their overtime 120-116 win over the Utah Jazz, Bogdanovic actually made more of a defensive impact with three steals. He's the type of player who flourishes around stars like James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, so there's a good chance that the Clippers will be able to reap some benefit from this move as they tighten their hold on a playoff berth.

Terance Mann's impact for Atlanta has really come on defense. He's been able to give Atlanta some good minutes on that end. For example, he recorded three steals against the Knicks that helped the Hawks push the game to overtime. His offense has been more streaky, but he hit all three of his attempts from deep in a 112-106 win over the Orlando Magic. However, he also missed all of his shots from the field in a Knicks game that they lost by one. It's going to take some more time to integrate Mann into the lineup, but there's reason to be optimistic.

Both Hunter and Bogdanovic seem to have latched on immediately after the trade and it'll be interesting to track their performance throughout the year as the race to the playoffs heats up.

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