Grading The Cleveland Cavaliers, De'Andre Hunter Trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers undoubtedly got better following their trade with the Atlanta Hawks for De'Andre Hunter.

Tommy Wild | Feb 6, 2025

Dec 11, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward De'Andre Hunter (12) celebrates his three point shot against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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Cleveland Cavaliers

Koby Altman did it.

He pulled off a fairly significant trade to land the Cleveland Cavaliers the true wing they've been looking for the last few seasons as De'Andre Hunter joins the Wine and Gold.

The full trade between the Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks is reported to be this:

Cavaliers Get:
De'Ander Hunter

Hawks Get:
Caris LeVert
Georges Niang
2026 and 2028 pick swaps
2027, 2029, 2031 second-round picks

Cavaliers De'Andre Hunter Trade Grade: A

I'm giving this trade by the Cavaliers an A.

Altman did a lot in this deal to help the Cavaliers win now while keeping the future in mind. It was nearly a perfect move, but some minuscule questions still need to be addressed.

For starters, Hunter is an obvious fit with this Cleveland team. He can start, come off the bench, defend just about any position, create his own shot, shoot threes at a high rate, and do just about anything asked of him.

The Cavaliers have needed a true small forward truly since they traded Lauri Markkanen to the Utah Jazz in the Donovan Mitchell trade.

Now, they added of the best wings on the trade market.

The second impressive part of this deal is that it gets the Cavaliers out of the luxury tax for this season, which was another of Cleveland's goals before the deadline.

Avoiding the tax will give the Cavaliers future financial flexibility with extensions to Mitchell and Evan Mobley set to kick in next season, and, eventually, Jarrett Allen.

Jan 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward De'Andre Hunter (12) shoots beside Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome (2) in the first quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

If we're going to get a little nitpicky and look at any downsides to this trade, it's that the Cavaliers give up quite a bit of their limited draft capital.

Second-round picks are always a gamble, but the two-pick swaps (which essentially become swaps-on-swaps) for a team that already has limited first-round picks could be a concern down the line.

However, it's a risk that must be taken to get a player of Hunter's caliber.

The other possible concern with this move is that Cleveland's front court depth is now extremely thin.

After Allen and Mobley, Cleveland has just Dean Wade (who is currently injured) and Tristan Thompson as options to play behind them.

Niang stepped up in a big way during Mobley's recent absence due to a calf injury, but even the Cavaliers could have used another big man to fill in minutes. Now, that depth is all but gone.

You can't predict the future, but if Allen or Mobley eternally miss significant time for whatever reason, Cleveland could have a serious issue with their frontcourt on their hands.

Yes, Wade can play in the frontcourt when he returns from injury, Hunter could theoretically slide to power forward at times, and Thompson could occasionally provide some minutes.

This should be an area the front office addresses in the buyout market.

Overall, this is a fantastic trade that fills a void the Cavaliers have needed to manage for a while.

There's certainly some risk involved with the draft picks and lack of big man depth, but when fully healthy, Cleveland definitely has a better roster than what they had to start the day.

Cavaliers De'Andre Hunter Trade Grade: A

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