Discover which NBA contenders eyed Keon Ellis, and why deals with Minnesota and Indiana ultimately fell through before his move to Cleveland.
The Sacramento Kings ended up ripping the bandage off when they dealt fan-favorite two-way guard Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for De'Andre Hunter, but there were plenty more potential destinations that did not come to be.
Ellis quickly became one of the most coveted assets on the trade market prior to the Feb. 5 trade deadline, eventually garnering interest from roughly half of the NBA's franchises in trade discussions. Of these teams, some included both current contenders and fellow bottom-of-the-barrel squads.
On Monday, The Athletic's Sam Amick recently revealed a few of these potential destinations to be the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Indiana Pacers, and gave a few reasons as to why each team had their obstacles with regard to the Ellis sweepstakes.
"The reality (for Minnesota) is someone like Keon Ellis is not going to be the priority," Amick shared during an interview with Sactown Sports 1140.
"They showed a lot of interest and then Giannis Antetokounmpo became the priority, so Minnesota was fading away as an option."
"(For) Indiana, there was a Benedict Mathurin obstacle where they didn't want to give up a late first while still having Mathurin because they potentially will be moving him..."
"The concern logic-wise for the Pacers was, 'Are we really going to give up a late first for a guy in Keon who might not beat Benedict out for playing time?"
In every possible scenario, an Ellis-Timberwolves deal makes much more sense in the present moment than a trade sending him to the reeling Pacers.
Minnesota would have been welcoming Ellis into a winning atmosphere as a Western Conference Finals team for the past two consecutive years, pairing him alongside superstar shooting guard Anthony Edwards as a defensive-minded supporting piece. The Timberwolves could have also potentially sent back a young player like Rob Dillingham in exchange for Ellis, though it would have further crowded the Kings' backcourt room.
It also makes plenty of sense that as soon as the MIlwaukee Bucks' 2-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was fully ready for a trade, Minnesota's front office focused all of their attention on acquiring the 31-year-old future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
As for Indiana, their motivations for completing a deal to nab Ellis are similar. Even though the squad with a 13-37 record might not be competing for anything this season, the 2026-27 campaign would be where Ellis would shine.
After their star point guard Tyrese Haliburton returns from an Achilles tear suffered during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, he'll be aiming to lead his group back to the championship series, and Ellis would have also assisted him plenty as an effective three-and-D talent with a blistering 41.6% career three-point percentage.
Ultimately, Kings general manager Scott Perry decided that with both franchise's respective interest in Ellis fading, he'd contact the Cavaliers to acquire a player of his liking in Hunter.
Still, the intrigue in Ellis league-wide made things hard for a Kings front office navigating plenty of potential trade routes prior to deadline day.
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