The Cleveland Cavaliers had a lot of reasons to pull off their De'Andre Hunter trade with the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
One of them might've been the idea of trying to keep Keon Ellis around for the long haul.
Ellis is one of two guards the Cavs got back from the Kings, along with Dennis Schroder.
And it's Ellis, at 26 years old, who is a candidate to stick around for a while.
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The Cavaliers are actually allowed to work on a contract extension immediately with Ellis, although it's limited by trade rules.
According to Spotrac's Keith Smith, the Cavs can give Ellis up to a three-year extension worth a total of $52 million ($17.3 million per year).
Ellis is a solid 3-and-D player who inexplicably fell out of Sacramento's rotation this season.
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard is a 41.6% career 3-point shooter.
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Ellis is in his fourth NBA season, with last year being by far his best.
In 2024-25, Ellis averaged 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from 3-point range.
If Ellis can even approach those numbers for Cleveland, he'll be a huge pickup. That's especially true if the Cavaliers can also extend him and keep him around for the long haul.
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