Recently, the Cleveland Cavs have been playing some improved basketball, continuing with a blowout win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday evening at home. The Cavs are slowly but surely climbing the standings in the Eastern Conference after a tough start to the year, and now, all eyes are on the franchise as the trade deadline approaches.
Recently, ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel reported on Clutch Scoops that both Lonzo Ball and De’Andre Hunter are both “currently being involved in active trade talks going around the league right now,” in order to help the Cavs get out of the second apron.
NBA insider Jake Fischer also reported on the Cavs’ reported Hunter talks on Marc Stein’s Substack.
“Sources say that the Cavaliers, meanwhile, are engaged in various conversations on De’Andre Hunter, but many teams view his $20-plus million salary for next season as negative value when also factoring in his injury history,” reported Fischer.
Indeed, Hunter has a storied injury history dating back to his days with the Atlanta Hawks, and is also on somewhat of a bloated contract relative to his on-court production.
Both Hunter and Ball are suffering through brutal shooting years so far in 2025-26, and some have speculated that the Cavs might have to attach future draft compensation in order to move off of them at the trade deadline.
Still, Siegel noted that the Cavs have no plans of breaking up their core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley heading into the deadline. Although Garland, Mobley, and Allen have all underperformed relative to expectation thus far this season, the team will hope that the group is able to recapture some of the synergy that led them to the number one seed a year ago.
In any case, the trade deadline is set for February 5.