Last week, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com floated a trade idea between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.
Fedor proposed that the Cavaliers trade Darius Garland to the Magic for Jalen Suggs and Tristan Da Silva.
“I understand that Jalen Suggs is not as good of a player as Darius. I understand that Jalen Suggs is not as naturally gifted or talented as Darius, but he brings a lot of stuff that this team would benefit from,” Fedor said. “He can handle. He can distribute, he can guard his butt off, he can shoot from the perimeter, he can drive, and he gives you more size, more toughness, more tenacity.”
Fedor’s trade proposal wasn’t received well by Cavaliers fans, but veteran Cleveland reporter Terry Pluto loved it.
“I do it yesterday,” Pluto said. “I love Jalen Suggs. I wanted him, I rated him over Evan Mobley in the draft. Of course, I was wrong on that. But I will tell you, Jalen Suggs in the same backcourt with Donovan Mitchell is a better fit. He’s tough-minded.”
Garland will make $39,446,090 next season, Suggs will make $35,000,000 and Da Silva will make $3,809,520.
The Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the East this year. They swept the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs but lost to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals in five games.
Meanwhile, the Magic lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round in five games.
“That combination with Donovan and Garland, I just have struggled with it come playoff time and I still am,” Pluto said.
The Cavaliers are projected to have $219 million in salary for the 2025-26 season and be over the second apron.
Garland averaged 20.6 points and 6.7 assists this season in 75 games. He made his second All-Star team.
However, the Vanderbilt product struggled in the Pacers series, averaging only 14.0 points while shooting 34.2% from the field and 16.7% from 3.
Suggs averaged 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals for the Magic this season. He’s one of the top defenders in the NBA.
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Let’s get be clear about one thing..
The idea to trade for Suggs started here on hoopswire.. in the comments section.
The day before Fedor came out talking about it.
Hi Chris!
I appreciate you advocating for it but by now I think Cleveland media has talked and talked it completely out of existence. Not that they would have necessarily bit in the first place.
You can’t just come out and say it directly, who you want to get rid of for Suggs. They can read in Orlando. Media acting like they’ll just hand him over because some have given up on Garland. Pluto beating that dead horse was definitely the nail in the coffin.
Will have to settle for another guy like Suggs. I’d say who I’m thinking but I don’t want Fedor to read it this time, and blow all our negotiating power the very next day.
Garland to Orlando improves the Magic, more than Suggs to Cleveland. This is one of the stupidest ideas ever.