[Rumor] Scotto: Kings and Cavs discuss trading Ellis/FIBA Dennis/Bench Saric for De’Andre Hunter
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megapoxy
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Yesterday there was a similar story that the Lakers give Rui, Knecht in exchange for Hunter and I would like that trade as anti-Lakers fan cause their defense without Rui would become even worse than it is.
I don't agree giving Keon for this trade, the Cavs need Dennis I guess (they are out of point guards, Lonzo is on the move probably hope he won't end up in Sacramento) so perhaps Keon doesn't have to go there if no pick comes back.
I don't agree giving Keon for this trade, the Cavs need Dennis I guess (they are out of point guards, Lonzo is on the move probably hope he won't end up in Sacramento) so perhaps Keon doesn't have to go there if no pick comes back.
Kingz19
Hall of Famer
I think it would have to be. He isn’t an expiring and he’s 28
Perhaps Hunter would be a more palatable offer for Kuminga than DDR.
He isn’t shooting the three ball well this season but he’s mostly been above league average on good volume for his career. Might be a better “win now” piece.
But for the Kings, I wouldn’t see the point of this trade.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
Hunter is the best player in the deal but is 28 and injury prone. If I’m doing this deal I still need picks because the Cavs are getting two players that really help them in the playoffs AND they are shaving money off their tax bill next year. They are the only second apron team (22 mil over) so they can’t aggregate salaries or take on extra money yada yada yada.
How about the above framework and the Cav’s ‘26 first which will be at the end of the round? Can then flip Hunter at the deadline next year as an expiring wing for a couple seconds.
How about the above framework and the Cav’s ‘26 first which will be at the end of the round? Can then flip Hunter at the deadline next year as an expiring wing for a couple seconds.
I think just getting a better asset to flip in Hunter while clearing the Dennis money.
Reasonable, I guess. Would feel better with a pick along with Hunter from the Cavs
Joshyjosh31
Starter
I don’t see how Hunter can get you a first
Aren't a bunch of contenders trying to do exactly that right now?
TaxMan
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Any trade were a key benefit is clearing out the Dennis contract is a clear fail for Perry. If he could move him for a couple 2nds, then I’m willing to give him credit for the original signing. Otherwise he gets an “L” for his first offseason.
ShastaKingsFan
Hall of Famer
He was pretty good for Detroit last season, in their rise. They probably wanted him back, but didn't want to do a 3 year deal
ShastaKingsFan
Hall of Famer
The irony of them possibly moving both of their defensive guards together, in Ellis and Carter. This organization can never even part way commit to defense
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
hmm multiple second round picks or get off an expiring Saric…. Such a tough call
I thought we were trying to lose? I thought Keon Ellis alone was supposed to be worth a late first round pick? Hunter is 2 years older than Ellis and tacks on $25 million in salary for next season in exchange for two players that Perry himself brought in last year. This trade deadline remains absolutely the dumbest Kings plotline I've ever seen and there have been a lot of dumb ones over the years.
whozit
Starter
Now if they flip Hunter for Knecht and Hachimura while also receiving the 2nd round draft capital from Cleveland ...... Helps correct their screw up from the off season
Hachimura is an expiring contract and Knecht is terrible on defense. And we also have to trade Keon Ellis to make this happen. All Perry would have accomplished through these trades is taking one of our most promising youngsters from the last two seasons and turning him into a couple of low value draft picks and yet another SG who can't defend NBA players. Vomit.
Yes and the Dennis deal never made sense to me unless it was some weird agent quid pro quo to get an extension deal done with Keon.
But, we can't really just start getting upset about rumors that never play out in this day and age everything is about clicks and revenue generation. Either way I just want to get a stockpile of picks because that's our best shot. OKC, Houston, San Antonio all stockpiled and it paid off, granted SA also continues to be the beneficiary of the most ridiculous lottery luck, but they also suckered us into that draft swap, they had Chicago's pick that they had to move back to CHI in the Fox deal, they got Carter Bryant with and Atlanta pick.
If this team isn't/wasn't blatantly tanking our ceiling is still the play-in as the last two years proved. Too bad we can't sim season and skip ahead like in a video game to trade deadlines and draft days for the next 3 years.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
It would be monumentally stupid. If they move Keon the fallback should be that they still have Carter. Carter has contract control, if the Kings just give that away they'll regret it. But, they regret almost everything they do at some point.
The point here would be to correct the Dennis mistake from the off-season, clear his salary and still get value back. 1 or 2 2nd rounders (or something equivalent)+flier on Knecht+cleaning the Dennis contract is probably fine for Keon as we head towards a rebuild.
We're going to take a haircut on value down the line. The three priorities for me:
1. Clear the runway for young talent to play. Maxime/Nique/Cardwell/Carter/Knecht. Make room for these guys to have real roles.
2. Clear out our long-term salary where possible. This qualifies as that.
3. If taking on long-term salary (Poeltl trade), be properly compensated with draft capital for it.
I'd actually have more respect for Perry if he traded Dennis, basically admitting his mistake, but moving on from it.
This is the way teams and agents negotiate now. The rumors are put out there with the goal of manipulating perceived trade value. We're watching Keon Ellis be transformed from a valuable trade asset last summer into now a salary throw-in to help us clear out a negative value contract which we shouldn't have in the first place. And because of the way this has been handled, Ellis' value drops to zero after the trade deadline so the closer we get to the trade deadline the smaller the offers are going to get.
This reported Cleveland deal doesn't even save us any money. Dennis Schröder is only owed $4.3 million in guaranteed salary in the 2027-2028 season. Spending an additional $10 million in 2026-2027 to save $4.3 million the following year makes no sense. It's the exact opposite of correcting a mistake, actually. Just bench Schröder and buy him out if you want to clear out space for other players.
Not re-signing Keon Ellis in order to ultimately trade him for Dalton Knecht would be right about on par with what we've seen from Scott Perry so far. Right up there with bringing in Westbrook and burying Devin Carter on the bench. If this is the kind of talent evaluation we can expect from this front office, get used to losing because they clearly have no concept of what it takes to win in this league.
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