This potential Cavs trade with Magic is solid deal to consider

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a 23-18 record on the year, and have exceeded the expectations of many thus far this season. Them getting through a gauntlet of a schedule in the first third or so of the campaign was nothing to sneeze at with how they did, and even with the injuries and COVID-19-related absences they had, the club has hung in there.

Nonetheless, losing the likes of Collin Sexton early on in the season to a torn meniscus and more recently, Ricky Rubio to a torn ACL have been both blows to the team. The Cavaliers did acquire Rajon Rondo via trade from the Los Angeles Lakers, who is still a more than capable reserve primary playmaker, and is such an intelligent player.

Rondo is not a guy that’s nearly going to provide the scoring presence of Rubio, even with him having streakiness but proving to make a difference seemingly given more of a green light than in years past with Cleveland this season.

The Cavs and general manager, who was recently extended and is formally now Cleveland’s President of Basketball Operations, Koby Altman, are still reportedly looking to acquire more playmaking help though, and one would imagine scoring on the wing to help ease the burden on Darius Garland. That’s with the Sexton and Rubio injuries, and to some extent, Isaac Okoro still being sidelined for perhaps another couple of weeks with an elbow sprain.

That said, even with how Rubio has been a key contributor on and off the floor this season, it is understandable that the Cavs could look to move his expiring contract of $17.8 million in a potential trade to land another playmaking, and ideally, shooting presence. In that realm, other teams are reportedly showing interest in a deal involving Rubio’s contract, packaged with draft picks, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (subscription required).

In relation to potential targets for the Cavs in general via trade, Charania’s report mentioned how the Cavaliers are a team that’s interested in the Indiana Pacers’ Caris LeVert, who has been a player that’s been mentioned in trade rumors.

Along with LeVert, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com mentioned in a recent tweet/report how other possible trade targets for Cleveland could be the Boston Celtics’ Dennis Schroder, the Utah Jazz’s Joe Ingles, the Toronto Raptors’ Goran Dragic, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Kyle Anderson, and the blockbuster one, in the Philadelphia 76ers’ (currently) Ben Simmons.

I’m personally not a fan of Simmons for the Cavs, and Dragic is not a player I’d be in on, nor Schroder, with the Cavs’ recent addition of Rondo in the mind for Dragic and Schroder. Schroder and Dragic can score their share of points, and both to some degree can facilitate, but giving up anything of value for Schroder or Dragic doesn’t excite me, and I don’t know if I’d bring either back looking onward.

With Ingles, he’s more a bonafide shooting presence, playmaker and is still a quality defender. Him being on an expiring deal at 34 is not something I’m loving, though, and the Cavaliers would likely have to give up something far more impactful than Rubio’s contract and picks.

With Anderson, he is expiring as well; his defensive versatility and playmaking I’d consider looking more into, in fairness. So we’ll see on that front; even still, as Fedor stated, it’s unclear if Memphis would consider dealing him.

In the case with LeVert, I do get it if Cleveland looked to acquire him, however, I’m not the biggest fan of his style, and him not being a floor spacing presence from three-point range still concerns me. Looking onward, the injury issues with him I don’t love in recent seasons, either.

With all of that said, a hypothetical deal that I believe the Cavaliers should consider pursuing is one that might be somewhat off the beaten path with the Orlando Magic, but I do think could make a difference from a depth and shooting perspective. It wouldn’t affect team chemistry too much I don’t believe, either.

We’ll get into why the Cavs should consider this potential deal with the Magic now, and more into the impact from there.

Alrighty, let’s get into it.

Examining the potential Cavs-Magic deal, why the Magic should consider it, and how Carter-Williams could help the Cavs

Perhaps with Terrence Ross being mentioned in trade rumors dating back to last offseason, and still seemingly a candidate to be dealt by the Feb. 10 deadline, the Cavs could inquire about a deal involving him and Michael Carter-Williams, for Rubio’s contract and Cleveland’s two second-round picks? Those seconds are via the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets, both of which should be valuable and seem to be.

For the Magic, they’re a club that is in the beginning stages of a full-rebuild, and the priority for them should clearly be to get young guys as much experience as they can, with players such as Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, RJ Hampton and Franz Wagner in mind. Not to mention Markelle Fultz, if and when he returns from injury.

Orlando and Rubio/his representation could seemingly look to negotiate a buyout after this potential deal were to ensue, or maybe Rubio could remain with them through the end of the season, and possibly the two sides could come to an agreement on a reasonable deal this upcoming offseason. I do have my doubts on that, but with the picks attached, this could be a sensible move from their end.

Of course, it’s definitely not a certainty that Ross could be had for two seconds, but those would likely be worth a hard look, given the Spurs and Rockets’ being at #11 and #15 in the Western Conference currently.

On the Cavaliers’ side of the ledger here, while I get Carter-Williams is not a player you’d expect to have a crucial offensive role, he could fill in for some spurts as a faciliting presence, and still can be an effective driver. He’d be an impactful rotational defender also that could fill in guarding opposing 1’s through 3’s, and for his career, even while he’s bounced around, the 6-foot-5 Carter-Williams has proven to be a capable playmaker in regular roles, and has had 6.2 assists per-36 minutes.

Granted, he has had injuries in his career, and had ankle surgery back in late August; shoulder and knee ailments have been a concern as well in prior seasons with the Magic, and with the Chicago Bulls, for example. Carter-Williams’ outlook was an uncertain one a few seasons ago, too, but he’s proven to be solid for Orlando’s bench; he, like Ross, is 30, though.

For Cleveland, both could be valuable members of the rotation, regardless, and the key here to this hypothetical deal, beyond Carter-Williams potential defense and playmaking help, is Ross, however.

Ross could be a crucial scoring presence down the stretch for the Cavs, and provide another movement shooter

From there, the key here to me, even with him not being a significant playmaking presence for other guys when he’s in games, in I’d imagine a supersub-type role, or perhaps as an interim starting 2, Terrence Ross would provide a perimeter shooting boost.

And down the stretch in games, that could help open up operations more for Garland, who even with him dealing with back soreness since the end of the Warriors loss, has been off the past two contests.

Just generally speaking, Ross could be a guy that the Cavaliers go to throughout games, or in crunch time, to create for himself off-the-bounce, and perhaps even more so, to convert in catch-and-shoot situations in spurts on the wing, in varying lineups at the 2 or 3, perhaps.

Now he has been off as a three-point shooter this season, converting on only 30.5 percent from three on 4.8 attempts per game, and last season, partly due to more playmaking workload, he connected on 33.7 percent of his three-point attempts. On a positive note, in the past two seasons, he has converted on 46.9 percent and 50.8 percent of his two-point attempts, for context, often via unassisted situations, and throughout his career, he has always been a great finisher.

Anyway, from my perspective, bringing in a guy like Ross, who has postseason experience, and has proven to be one of the game’s more dangerous off-screen shooters, who can still create for himself, he could end up being more of a seamless fit in stretches.

I get that those two seconds are legit picks, but Ross helps bring added bench scoring juice, and he could still play in a variety of lineups, whether it’s with a combo of Lauri Markkanen still, Cedi Osman or Dean Wade some at the 3. He could fill in in spurts at the 3 also in some matchups.

And even with the three-point hit rate down from him the past two seasons, he’d bring a valuable off movement and floor spacing presence, and would be a player Cleveland could rely on down the stretch as a bailout option, particularly with Sexton and Rubio out.

Additionally, I do believe with the Cavaliers and Rondo/Garland and playing off of Cleveland’s bigs, such as Evan Mobley and Kevin Love, that Ross could be back to a solid clip from three, where he’s knocked in 36.4 percent of his career attempts from there, factoring in his earlier days with the Orlando Magic, too.

Ross, who is 30, is set to be expiring after the 2022-23 season, so we’d have to see from there involving a possible extension at some point. And Carter-Williams, for what it’s worth, is set to be expiring after this season, in which he’s on the books for $3.3 million; he would fit in the $4.2 million JaVale McGee trade exception, whereas Ross is due to make $12.5 million this season.

Moreover, while this potential deal wouldn’t be a splashy one, I do believe it could be mutually beneficial for both, and for the Cavs, who’d need to waive someone following it, I do think it’d make a notable difference and also not affect team chemistry too much. It’s just something to consider, at least, and it’s a bonus that Ross has been a leader for the Magic for quite some time.