After [Cleveland Cavaliers](https://cavaliersnation.com/) forward De’Andre Hunter was a consistent presence in the starting lineup to kick off the campaign, he’s served in a more relegated role as of late. He’s come off the bench in every game he’s played in for nearly a month now, and amid a trying 2025-26 regular season for the team collectively, some blame has been directed at the 28-year-old.
But even though Hunter has hit some rocky waters this season, the team still reportedly turned down a “quite compelling” offer for the No. 4 overall pick back in the 2019 NBA Draft, with the league’s trade deadline not all that far off from now.
> “I had multiple sources say that the Cavs don’t want to trade him,” insider Chris Fedor said of Hunter. “They don’t want to have to get to that point where they feel like they have to move him. They want him to work his way out of this prolonged shooting slump. They still believe in him. They believe that he’s a better shooter than what he has shown. They believe he’s a better player than what he has shown.
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> “And they’ve gotten multiple offers for De’Andre, one of ’em that I believe is actually quite compelling, but to this point, they have turned them down.”
Hunter’s career shooting splits do back up the Cavaliers’ belief that he’s a more adept shooter than what the numbers this season suggest. So far in the 2025-26 regular season, he’s shooting just 42.8 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from deep. But across 364 career regular-season contests, his scoring accuracy is a whole lot better, with him converting 44.9 percent of his field-goal attempts and 36.6 percent of his 3s.
Still, one could argue that the Cavaliers maybe should have pulled the trigger on the “quite compelling” offer they received for Hunter, depending on what exactly they were set to receive in return. After all, his trade value is probably the lowest it’s been in quite some time, so it wouldn’t have been the worst idea to squeeze out a solid return while possible. If his struggles persist for a lengthy period of time, he might reach a point where he won’t be able to bring back anything of real value in a trade.
However, according to Fedor, it seems like the Cavaliers have yet to seriously consider trading Hunter, and hopefully he will get his footing from a scoring standpoint as the season goes on. If he were to up his level of play on the offensive end of the floor, maybe that would be enough to help kick-start a season turnaround for Cleveland. Despite all of the depth and talent they have, the Cavaliers have a record that’s barely above the .500 mark, as they sit as the No. 7 seed in the East with a record of 23-19.