{"id":72165,"date":"2026-02-01T07:42:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T10:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/888405020"},"modified":"2026-02-01T07:42:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T10:42:45","slug":"nba-trade-grades-cavs-save-some-cash-by-shipping-away-deandre-hunter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/01\/nba-trade-grades-cavs-save-some-cash-by-shipping-away-deandre-hunter\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA trade grades: Cavs save some cash by shipping away De’Andre Hunter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s been a quiet trade season in the NBA. Until this weekend, we\u2019d only had the Trae Young move to the Washington Wizards<\/a> for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. Now, less than a week before the Feb. 5 deadline, we have another deal.<\/p>\n

The Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls agreed to a three-team trade Saturday, and De\u2019Andre Hunter is heading out of Cleveland about a year after it acquired him. From Sam Amick<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to trade De\u2019Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Keon Ellis and Dennis Schr\u00f6der, two team sources told The Athletic<\/em>. The Chicago Bulls will receive Dario \u0160ari\u0107 and two second-round picks (2027 from Cleveland and 2029 from Sacramento) as part of the deal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Maybe this will open up the floodgates for deals. Hunter has a new home, and the Cavs appear to be acquiring some backcourt depth while also saving a bunch in luxury tax penalties. What does this mean for all three teams involved? Let\u2019s bust out the red pen and get the trade grades flowing.<\/p>\n

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Cavaliers receive Dennis Schr\u00f6der, Keon Ellis<\/h2>\n

This is a luxury tax-saving trade for the Cavs. They are not even close to the level of team we saw a season ago, when their offense was historic and they won 64 regular-season games. The Cavs are just 29-21 this season and haven\u2019t been close to the offensive juggernaut we saw under Kenny Atkinson last season. They had committed to a very expensive roster, hoping they\u2019d compete for a championship with the wide-open Eastern Conference this season, and they were deep into the dreaded second-apron payroll threshold<\/a>. That doesn\u2019t just cost you a lot of money in luxury tax penalties; it also brings tough restrictions when it comes to how you can improve your roster.<\/p>\n

Going from the $23.3 million Hunter makes this season to the combined $16.4 million from Schr\u00f6der ($14.1 million) and Ellis ($2.3 million) cuts about $7 million in salary. Per Sam Vecenie, this will save the Cavs somewhere in the neighborhood of $45 million to $50 million in luxury tax penalties. It doesn\u2019t take the Cavs out of the second apron completely, but it gives them big-time financial savings.<\/p>\n

As for the basketball portion of this, the Cavs have greatly missed Ty Jerome, whom they allowed to walk in free agency to the Memphis Grizzlies this summer. Jerome was a perfect third guard for them behind Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. The Cavs tried to replace him by trading Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball, but Ball has been pretty brutal on the floor this season. He\u2019s made just 29.9 percent of his shots. Schr\u00f6der is a big-time upgrade for the Cavs, if they don\u2019t try to flip him before Thursday\u2019s deadline. But he\u2019s not an easy fit next to Garland or Mitchell and provides the same defensive issues they have with their smaller guards on the floor. He also needs the ball in his hands, as does their All-Star backcourt. Schr\u00f6der has two more years on his contract, but only next season is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Ellis was a highly sought-after option at the trade deadline, but he\u2019ll most likely be a rental. He\u2019s an expiring contract, expecting to get paid as a 3-and-D backup guard on the free-agent market this summer. But for the rest of this season, he can play next to pretty much any guard Cleveland has, despite only being about 6-feet-4. He\u2019ll provide some much-needed shooting, but he also has three guards ahead of him on the depth chart with Mitchell, Garland and Schr\u00f6der. It\u2019s not a perfect fit for the roster and minutes \u2014 unless they have another big move before the deadline.<\/p>\n

Cavs grade:<\/strong> C+<\/p>\n

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Kings receive De\u2019Andre Hunter<\/h2>\n

The Kings have been a total disaster this season, and it\u2019s not just because of injuries. This roster doesn\u2019t make any sense as constructed. Adding Schr\u00f6der and then Russell Westbrook didn\u2019t really make sense during the offseason, and it\u2019s worked out even worse on the court. Acquiring Hunter for Schr\u00f6der and Ellis could be a pretty good move for them, though. The Kings were hoping to get some kind of first-round pick for Ellis. Instead, they got a guy who could fit into the identity general manager Scott Perry would like to put together.<\/p>\n

Hunter was one of the best Sixth Man of the Year candidates in the league last season. He was amazing for the Atlanta Hawks before getting moved to the Cavs at the deadline. It looked like a brilliant trade by Cleveland last year, and Hunter had a good finish to the regular season. He struggled a little in the postseason, but so did most of the Cavs. However, this season, he\u2019s had arguably the worst season of his career. His 14.0 points per game is his lowest output in about five years, and his shooting percentage of 42.3 percent from the field is his lowest since his rookie season (41.4 percent). Even worse, Hunter\u2019s 30.8 percent from deep is by far the worst we\u2019ve ever seen him shoot the ball.<\/p>\n

He should be better than this, though. And he has a chance to regain his scoring groove in Sacramento, assuming the Kings continue to make moves before the deadline. Having him next to Keegan Murray on the wings is a really good idea. They can both play good defense and, theoretically, knock down outside shots. Hunter is under contract for next season at $24.9 million, so he\u2019ll either be a great option for them to try to extend or re-sign, or he can be a trade chip to dangle before the next deadline.<\/p>\n

Kings grade: <\/strong>B<\/p>\n

Bulls receive Dario \u0160ari\u0107, two second-round picks<\/h2>\n

The Bulls will waive Jevon Carter to make roster space for \u0160ari\u0107. He\u2019s barely played the last two seasons, only logging five games and 41 minutes total this season, but in the past, \u0160ari\u0107 has been a solid backup stretch big. If he gets time backing up Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107, then he could help out their rotation. I\u2019m just not sure you\u2019re going to see him eating into the minutes of someone like Jalen Smith at all. Most likely, this part of the deal was just the Bulls trying to get some extra second-round picks.<\/p>\n

Bulls grade: <\/strong>C+<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u00e2\u0080\u0099s been a quiet trade season in the NBA. Until this weekend, we\u00e2\u0080\u0099d only had the Trae Young move to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. Now, less than a week before the Feb. 5 deadline, we have another deal. The Sacramento Kings, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}