Altman needed to do something to upgrade the roster. Still, with limited resources to trade if he didn't want to trade any of Cleveland's "Core Four" of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers weren't tabbed as a team likely to acquire a player that could be more than a role player by the NBA's trade deadline.
Anyone believing that would have been incorrect as Altman not only landed a player that improved the roster, Altman did so at a surprisingly low cost as the Cavaliers acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three future second-round draft picks, and pick swaps in the future, which sometimes never are used.
Hunter was the fourth overall draftee in the 2019 draft from Virginia and is enjoying his best season as a professional with averages of nineteen points and almost four rebounds a game for the Hawks.
The twenty-seven-year-old Hunter is signed through this season and the following two years so Hunter won't be a rental and can be planned into the Cavaliers future.
Hunter is shooting forty-six percent from the floor and a career-high thirty-nine percent from beyond the three-point line.
Hunter is the "three and D" on the wing that Cleveland lacked. At 6'8", he can play the four position if circumstances require it. While Hunter may not have been the defensive stopper he was in college, he is still better than average on the defensive end.
Cleveland's cost for Hunter seems light compared to their return, losing two players from their second unit.
Caris LeVert averages ten points and just under four assists per game in almost twenty-four minutes a night. He is capable of offensive explosions, but it's difficult to consistently rely on him. His expiring contract may have appealed to the Hawks most in the trade.
Georges Niang was averaging eight points a game in twenty minutes per game off the bench and was shooting forty percent from three-point range in a season that saw improved play from Niang after a disappointing first Cleveland campaign.
The second-round picks are a tangible asset and not something that I worry about trading, and I doubt the option for Atlanta to switch first-rounders with Cleveland will ever occur.
The amazing thing for me is that the best two assets that could have been traded, the Cavaliers next available first-rounder in 2031 and their most recent first-round pick in Jaylon Tyson, Cleveland managed to keep both!
Tyson isn't playing a large role yet but impressed when he has had the opportunity and Cleveland hopes to develop Tyson into a key performer when the Cavaliers may have to make salary cap decisions down the road.
Caris LeVert and Georges Niang are both reported to be great locker room guys and losing them certainly weakens the second unit.
However, neither player would have been a playoff regular and Niang in particular would see his playing time decrease drastically during the postseason.
Both players will be missed but Koby Altman has to be praised for adding a player such as De'Andre Hunter to fill the team's largest weakness at a reasonable price.
Clearly, Cleveland has improved their chances of dethroning the Boston Celtics with the acquisition of De'Andre Hunter.
