Report: De’Andre Hunter trade talks have advanced past early stages

If the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to make a move prior to the Feb. 5 trade deadline, forward De’Andre Hunter appears to be one of the top candidates to be dealt. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft has seen his name in trade rumors a whole lot this month, and while it appeared for a while that the Cavs didn’t want to trade him, that stance might have shifted.

Now that the trade deadline is almost here, trade talks regarding Hunter have reportedly advanced, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. He said on a recent podcast that talks for Hunter are now past the fledgling stages.

“I’m told that the Cavs continue to have talks with a bunch of teams about De’Andre,” Fedor said.

“I had a source reach out to me earlier today. He said De’Andre Hunter is ‘very available’ and that these conversations that the Cavs are having with these other teams, they aren’t just cursory conversations early in the trade deadline process about, ‘Hey, do you like our player? Yes, you do? Okay, these are the general guys that we kinda like on your team. Give us a call back at some point.’

“No, these are engaged talks with interested suitors in De’Andre that makes it feel like there could be a pathway to a trade here.”

After Hunter scored the ball with such great efficiency with the Cavs and Atlanta Hawks in the 2024-25 campaign, he’s been mired in a season-long shooting slump in his first full season in Cleveland. Not only is he converting on a career-low 30.9 percent of his 3-point attempts this season, but he’s shooting just 42.2 percent from the floor.

Cleveland gave up some pieces to add him to the fold prior to last season’s deadline, as it moved forward Georges Niang and guard Caris LeVert to go along with three second-round picks and two pick swaps to Atlanta. Around this time last season, Hunter was playing some of the best basketball of his pro career with the Hawks, but in hindsight, it’s debatable as to whether he was worth what the Cavs gave up.

While it would be tough to guess all of the teams that have talked to the Cavaliers about a potential Hunter deal, the Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to the 28-year-old this season and could be a team that’s been in contact regarding a trade.

In light of Fedor’s report, Cavaliers fans should anticipate that Hunter could be playing for another one of the NBA’s 30 teams before long. If the Cavaliers do move him, hopefully fans will be happy with whatever the team nets in return.