DE'ANDRE Hunter

In 2025-26, Hunter played 45 games for Sacramento and averaged 26.1 minutes, 13.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.1 blocks, with 1.7 turnovers. He shot 41.5 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from three and 86.7 percent from the line, with a true shooting mark of 54.5 percent and a usage rate of 21.8. His plus-minus for the season sat at -0.5. Those numbers are from last season and should be read as the baseline he's working from, not where he currently stands in 2026-27.

Hunter's first four games this season have not gone well. On Oct. 5 against the Lakers he had 3 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists in 13.4 minutes in a loss. On Oct. 8, also against the Lakers, he scored 3 points with 4 rebounds in 18.1 minutes, another loss. On Oct. 10 versus Golden State he put up 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 18.5 minutes, and on Oct. 16 against San Antonio he managed 2 points and 2 rebounds in 20.0 minutes. All four games ended in losses for Sacramento, and his plus-minus in those games ranged from -4.0 to -16.0.

Hunter is not currently on the injury report. His recent injury history shows he was cleared on Oct. 16 after being listed Day-to-Day. Before that, he was Day-to-Day on Oct. 14 for rest, under the "Other" designation. He was also cleared on Sept. 28 after an earlier Day-to-Day listing, and on Sept. 6 he was Day-to-Day with a left eye and head issue. There's nothing lingering on the books for him right now heading into the next stretch of games.

The gap between last season's 13.7 points per game and his 2-point, 3-point and 4-point outputs in the first four games of 2026-27 is the story to track. His minutes have also been on the lower end so far, between 13.4 and 20.0 in those four games, compared to his 26.1-minute average last season. With no issues on the current injury report, the next several games will show whether this is just a slow start or a real shift in his role for Sacramento this season.