The NBA salary cap played a significant part in the trade that sent De’Andre Hunter from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Sacramento Kings this past weekend.
Of course, the Cavaliers were able to save plenty of money, both in straight-up salary and in luxury tax fines, by making the move. But why would the Kings, owners of the worst record in the NBA at 12-39, be willing to take on added salary in their current state?
NBA salary cap expert, plus founder and host of The Third Apron, Yossi Gozlan, joined The Drive Guys with Allen Stiles and Kevin “Whitey” Gleason to make sense of the deal from all angles.
To start, Gozlan made it clear on social media that he was not a fan of the Hunter deal from Sacramento’s perspective and explained his reasoning.
“Number one, it sounds like, based on the reporting that’s been precursors to eventually trading key on [Keon] Ellis, maybe there was, you could have gotten a little more draft equity,” Gozlan said. “Maybe those actual picks weren’t really out there. But the other main issue is with Hunter as a player… He’s a good player, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he really necessarily makes sense for the Kings right now.”
“And then in the long term, he makes a good amount of money at least next year,” Gozlan continued. “After that, they could extend them. They could maybe give him something a little bit less, but now they have a whole other issue where they made the roster more expensive, and they’re gonna have to figure out how they’re gonna navigate this, because they have, crazily enough, one of the most expensive rosters in the league right now for next year. So I would expect they’re gonna do something about that, but I just think if there were maybe offers where they could have just gotten maybe some extra seconds and not taken back bad money, I think that would have made a little more sense for Keon Ellis.”
Despite his own reservations, Gozlan acknowledged that Sacramento has a chance to rekindle some value for Hunter if he plays well and then agrees to a more friendly extension by the time his contract expires at the end of next season.
Of course, there was also the complicated aspect of the Chicago Bulls being a third team involved in the deal, taking on Dario Saric while being the only ones to receive draft capital as compensation. As he explained to The Drive Guys, that primarily had to do with Sacramento needing to match outgoing salary, combined with Cleveland not wanting to take on Saric’s additional financial responsibility this season.
There was plenty more great conversation from their interview, including what it could mean for DeMar DeRozan — could a buyout be in play? — Malik Monk being viewed as a negative contract around the league, why trading Domantas Sabonis to the Toronto Raptors would be a complicated deal, and more!
Check out the full interview with Yossi Gozlan by scrolling to the top of the page or by clicking here.
Listen to The Drive Guys with Kevin “Whitey” Gleason and Allen Stiles from 2 – 6 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday, on Sactown Sports 1140.
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