Report: Warriors Interested in $90M 3-and-D Wing

The Golden State Warriors have been linked to a number of wings this trade season, including Trey Murphy III, Michael Porter Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Herb Jones and Naji Marshall.

A new name surfaced Saturday.

According to a post written by The Stein Line's Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Warriors have interest in Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter.

"Word is that Golden State also looked into Hunter to some degree as it explored its options in smaller deals built around Kuminga's contract — raising the prospect of Kuminga reuniting with former Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland — but all that was before the Warriors' Giannis chase became their overwhelming focus at this deadline."

We're stretching the "three-and-D" label here because Hunter is shooting just 30.8 percent from three this season. But for his career, he's shooting 36.5 percent from three and has never been a player opponents intentionally leave open.

Hunter is in the third year of a four-year, $90 million contract. He's making $23.3 million this season.

What a Hunter Trade Would Look Like

Warriors Get: De'Andre Hunter
Cavaliers Get: Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Davis, 2026 top-four-protected first-round pick

Hunter has come off the bench since Dec. 17, which suggests he's not valued as much as he was when started 241 of 300 games with the Hawks.

So it's not a surprise that the Cavs are canvassing the trade market for him, but I wonder how interested they are in Kuminga.

Kuminga is more athletic than Hunter, and perhaps his slashing ability would fit in Cleveland. But Kuminga is shooting just 32.1 percent from three season, and Hunter is a much better defender.

So for the Cavs to do this, they a) have to believe they can get more out of Kuminga than the Warriors and b) have to think getting a first-round pick for their gamble is worth risking the Kuminga experiment not working out.

Hunter would likely start for the Warriors, and even if he didn't, he'd be a rotation mainstay.

He's averaging 14.0 points this season. That would rank as the third-highest scoring average on the Warriors, and with Jimmy Butler out for the season, one could argue he'd be the Warriors' second-best scorer.

Hunter isn't built to be a high-volume scorer, though. But he is built to provide decent secondary scoring and defend at a high level.

Any team could use that, and the Warriors are particularly thirsty for two-way wings with Hunter's size.