The Sacramento Kings made a trade late Saturday night, acquiring veteran forward De’Andre Hunter in a deal that sent guards Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The three-team deal included the Chicago Bulls, who received veteran Dario Saric and future second-round draft picks from Sacramento and Cleveland.
The deal came while the Kings were mired in an eight-game losing streak and gearing up for the final game of their longest road trip of the season when the take on the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
Sacramento’s loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday gave them the worst record in the NBA. Their dismal season is shifting their priority to positioning themselves to rebuild with a focus on the upcoming draft, where they are likely to have a top lottery pick.
In the meantime, the Kings believe Hunter (6-foot-8 with a 7-2 wing span) will immediately provide much-needed depth and versatility on the wings alongside Keegan Murray, who has missed 31 of 50 games so far this season.
Hunter will also provide financial flexibility given his contract runs through next season, which could make him a trade candidate as an expiring contract for Sacramento while they continue to try to clear the books amid their long-term rebuilding project. Hunter is in third season of a four-year, $90 million contract he signed with Atlanta in October of 2022.
Hunter’s deal, which pays him $23 million this season and $24.9 million in 2025-26, ends before Schroder’s three-year, $44.4 million deal he signed with Sacramento over the summer.
But who is De’Andre Hunter and why might the Kings be interested in seeing if he can be part of their future?
Hunter, who turned 28 on Dec. 2, was the No. 4 pick in the 2019 draft by the Atlanta Hawks after playing two seasons at Virginia. He helped the Cavaliers win a national championship during his red-shirt sophomore season. He scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the national championship game against Texas Tech.
Hunter played in six seasons for the Hawks and averaged a career-best 19.0 points on 39% shooting from 3-point range for Atlanta before being traded midseason to the Cavaliers for Caris LaVert and Georges Niang. He predominately came off the bench for Cleveland, but proved useful by averaging 14.3 points on 43% shooting from 3 with 4.2 rebounds.
The Kings believe Hunter can help defensively. The Kings have struggled to find competent wing defenders beyond Murray for years and Hunter represents another option to play both forward spots next to Murray in the starting lineup or coming off the bench. Hunter in 2024-25 led the NBA in bench scoring averaging 16.9 points per game as a reserve. The Kings haven’t had a competent defender at forward since moving on from Harrison Barnes when they added DeMar DeRozan.
Hunter was made expendable by the Cavaliers because he was having a down season emblematic of the team not living up to the high expectations coming in. Cleveland is currently the No. 5 seed after winning 64 games last season and having the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers flamed out in the second round of the playoffs losing to the Indiana Pacers in five games and Hunter averaged 11 points in eight postseason games last season. He started 16 playoff games for the Hawks previously and averaged 16.3 points per game including 40% shooting from 3-point range.
Hunter’s overall shooting dropped from 49% in 2024-25 to 42% this season, while his 3-point shooting took a significant dip from 43% in 27 games with Cleveland to 31% this year. The Cavaliers needed depth at point guard while Darius Garland has struggled with injuries and will upgrade their ability to guard point guards with Schroder and Ellis coming off the bench.
If Hunter can regain his form with a change of scenery, the Kings might have a long-term option at forward if they determine he’s worth giving a contract extension beyond this season. Or he could be a valuable trade chip given his “3-and-D” versatility and expiring contract.
Schroder didn’t work out after the Kings had expectations of him being their starting point guard. They signed Russell Westbrook at the beginning of the season and he overtook Schroder in the starting lineup by mid-November. The Kings point guard situation remains a pressing question mark going forward as Westbrook, who’s on a veteran minimum contract for this season, and combo-guard Malik Monk are the team’s only point guards currently in their rotation.
With Ellis leaving, the Kings believe they are opening more opportunity for rookie Nique Clifford to play his natural position of shooting guard. It was clear Ellis’ days with Sacramento were numbered when the team over the summer elected to pick up his modest $2.3 million option for this season rather than sign him to a multi-year contract that could pay him $12 to $17 million per season.