The Cleveland Cavaliers are trading forward De’Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis.
To complete the deal, the Cavaliers are sending the Bulls the 2027 2nd round pick they own from the Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile, the Kings will send Chicago forward Dario Saric and a 2029 second-round pick which will be the least favourable of their picks from the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.
While the move gives Cleveland some versatility off the bench with an extra defender and some point guard depth, the real key to the deal has to do with the team’s financial outlook. The Cavaliers will now save about $50M in salary and luxury tax bills this season because of the transaction and drop their tax bill from $164M to roughly $120M.
It will also allow the team to get under the second apron next season, which will give them additional roster construction flexibility in 2026-27.
Sacramento now gets a proven 3 and D wing in Hunter, who is still just 28 years old. By moving on from Saric, the team can now convert two-way centre Dylan Cardwell’s contract to a standard NBA deal.
The undrafted rookie is currently averaging 4.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 19.8 minutes per game, but couldn’t carve out a full time role due to a roster crunch for the Kings. Sacramento will take on the $23.3M and $24.9M remaining in the final two years of Hunter’s deal, but figure to now have some additional versatility in their lineups moving forward.
Up next for the Cavs is a 9pm ET showdown with the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, while the Kings will travel to take on Washington at 6pm ET.
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