The Atlanta Hawks are focused on the future, an expected stance entering the season that remains a bit of a shock following their latest move.
“The Atlanta Hawks are trading forward De'Andre Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three second-round picks and two swaps, sources tell ESPN,” EXPN’s Shams Charania reported on X on February 6.
Hunter, 27, is averaging 19.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists and shooting 39.3% on 3s.
Reports of the Cavaliers’ interest in trading for Hunter surfaced on Tuesday, and that they were ramping up their efforts earlier in the day on Thursday.
“The Cavaliers have indeed ramped up their interest and background work on Atlanta's De'Andre Hunter, league sources say, making them a fascinating Deadline Day watch,” The Stein Line’s Marc Stein reported on X on February 6.
Hunter is in Year 2 of a four-year, $90 million contract.
Hawks expected to make corresponding roster move
Part of the Cavaliers’ motivation in the deal was to fall below the luxury tax threshold. They accomplished that with this deal. The Hawks still have some work to do after making this relative blockbuster tade.
“Expect a corresponding move by Atlanta since this trade initially puts them in the luxury tax,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks posted on X on February 6. “The Cavaliers drop below the tax threshold.”
The Hawks are notoriously luxury tax-averse.
However, it is a prudent stance to hold in this instance where they appear appreciably worse on paper than they were entering the day. The issue comes in the question of what the Hawks received for Hunter, who was the NBA’s leading bench scorer before re-entering the starting lineup two games ago.
“Swaps are in 2026 & 2028, which means they’re “swaps on swaps” with those already swapped with Utah from Donovan Mitchell trade,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported on X on February 6.
The Jazz hold the swap option on the 2026 pick in a convoluted situation that also involves the Minnesota Timberwolves
“Sources tell @clevelanddotcom that while the deal is still going, the second-round picks #Cavs have agreed to send are in 2027, 2029 and 2031,” Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor reported on X.
For the Hawks, this certainly creates more questions than answers.
“This is sample wording on a swap on a swap (NOT OFFICIAL!),” Marks said in a post reacting to Windhorst. “2026 first round draft pick to Cleveland, Utah or Atlanta.
“Utah has the right to swap its 2026 1st round pick for Cleveland’s 2026 1st round pick; Atlanta then has the right to swap its 2026 1st round-pick for the less favorable of Cleveland and Utah.”
Perhaps after missing out on their other targets, the Hawks resigned themselves to building for the future. They have moved off the long-term money left on Hunter’s contract and received players that could still be rerouted before the 3 p.m. ET deadline.