Kings GM Explains Choosing De’Andre Hunter Over Keon Ellis

AFTER the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for De’Andre Hunter at last season’s trade deadline, a lot of people believed he was the piece that put their roster over the top. When the time came, he really was a key player in the first round of the playoffs as the Cavs swept the Miami Heat out of the first round. Yet, a rocky start to the 2024-25 season made Cleveland reconsider their original stance, leading to a trade with the Sacramento Kings.

Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder would be going from California’s capital to Ohio’s most prominent city. Hunter would be leaving The Land, traded to a team whose talent level and team success are on different sides of the table.

Kings General Manager Scott Perry Explains Choosing De’Andre Hunter Over Keon Ellis

All three players now have two games with their new teams on the books.

Ellis has averaged 6.0 points and 2.5 steals in 18.0 minutes per game while coming off the bench. Tasked with leading the Cavs’ second unit, Schroder has averaged 9.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 18.0 minutes per game. Hunter, who sustained an eye injury on Feb. 6 that will keep him out for at least 10 days (h/t Andscape’s Marc J. Spears), has averaged 7.5 points in 25.5 minutes per game.

Only Ellis, shooting 44.4% from the field and 50.0% from 3, has scored with any real efficiency. In fact, the others’ percentages have been abysmal. For his part, Schroder is shooting 34.8% from the field and 11.1% from 3. Meanwhile, Hunter is shooting 21.1% from the field and 22.2% from 3. As a result, Sacramento’s decision to trade Ellis for Hunter is being questioned more than ever.

The Proof Is In The Pudding

This weekend, Kings general manager Scott Perry answered those queries while making an appearance on the team’s official podcast, Conversations with Deuce & Mo:

“A proven player. Experienced… (Hunter) played an important role in knocking us out of the playoffs in one of my years in New York. You hear people talk about ‘3-and-D’ type of player but he can put it on the floor a little bit. But he can really defend the basketball, he’s been a really good 3-point shooter throughout his career… High character guy.”

As Perry acknowledges, many people have categorized Hunter as a 3-and-D player. Yet, just because a player is an effective 3-point shooter and defender doesn’t mean they fit into that box. Rather than being a 3-and-D wing or forward, he’s more of a three-level scorer and multi-positional defender. Over the course of his career, the 28-year-old has averaged 14.7 points per game on 36.4% shooting from 3. Though 42.7% of his shot attempts have been 3s, 39.2% of his field goal attempts have come between three feet of the rim and the 3-point line.

Complementing The Young Core

Tag-Teaming With Keegan Murray

Perhaps the main reason that Hunter is starting for Sacramento is because Perry believes in his fit with Keegan Murray. Murray, the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, is a player who truly fits the 3-and-D archetype. However, he may have been overburdened as the team’s best defender. Hunter is seen as a player who can supplement Sacramento’s defense by playing a role similar to Murray’s.

“In this league now you need those 6-foot-7 to 6-foot-10 wing type players who can guard multiple positions,” Perry explains.

“Keegan Murray has been guarding 1-5 though since I’ve been here… The irony is when De’Andre first came in the league in Atlanta, he was that guy for Atlanta. ‘Oh, you need to go guard Steph (Curry). Oh, go guard (Nikola) Jokic tonight… So, he’s had that experience in guarding just about every position on the floor, too. So now if you can put those two guys (like that) on the floor at the same time, it’ll be interesting to see how that comes.”

Opening Minutes For Nique Clifford, Devin Carter

Of course, Ellis is a renowned perimeter defender himself. However, he’s only 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds. In fact, his relative lack of size and strength is his only glaring weakness at that end. With that in mind, Hunter is listed at 6-foot-7 and 221 pounds. Not only does this make the Kings a bigger team but it solves a positional logjam. It’s no coincidence that Nique Clifford has played 37.5 minutes per game since the trade, even with Devin Carter playing 22.5 minutes per game in that span.

“When you make a trade a lot of times you have to give something up,” Perry tells Conversations with Deuce & Mo.

There was going to be a decision that needed to be made about Keon as well contractually coming this offseason. We needed more size, though. And we, as you’ve seen it play out this year, we’ve had so many guards on the roster. And so, you’ve seen guys in and out of the rotation. Keon was one of those guys. So, there was long stretches he didn’t play. There was some stretches he did. So we just opted to get a bigger version of (him).”