Is Darius Garland-Jalen Suggs a trade that Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic should consider?

Is Darius Garland-Jalen Suggs a trade that Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic should consider?

All right, brother. So, let’s get started. So, Chris Fedor, right? We know who Chris is. Uh, playing around and he put together a framework of what a trade for allstar point guard Darius Garland will look like. And the trade proposal was with the Orlando Magic. And the key player in return for the Cleveland Cavaliers was Jaylen Suggs. So, for those who don’t know much about Jaylen Suggs, let us give you a back. He’s 23 years old, 6’5, 205 pounds, defensive cat, fifth overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He’s played four NBA seasons, 2024 all defensive second team. This is the guy that is the key piece that will be the returning player. So, I guess this is a two-part question for you, the basketball guru of our entire flagship. Uh, is it a fit? Can it work? Would you like it? What would you say about this this situation? Uh let’s start with the first part. Is it a fit? Can it work? Yeah, it could work. Jaylen Suggs is a young player. A lot of upside. He’s an incredible defensive point guard when healthy and healthy and when. Two words you have to take seriously when talking about Jaylen Suggs. We’ll get to that in a second. But when he’s on the court, he’s in the top handful, five, six, maybe even a shorter list of the best point of attack defenders in all of basketball. The way he navigates through screens as a defender is beyond impressive. If you watch the Knicks Pacers series, look what Aaron Nesmith does when he’s playing Jaylen Brunson and how he gets over Carl Anthony Towns and how he gets over Mitchell Robinson, Ojanobi, anyone setting a high screen. It’s basically Nolan Void when N Smith on him. That’s what Jaylen Suggs could bring to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Is it a fit? It’s certainly a better fit defensively, but I think it takes away a lot of what Cleveland would want to do offensively. If you compare Suggs and Garland, Suggs is the better defensive player. There’s no argument. Garland’s a significantly better offensive player and and there’s frankly there’s no argument about this. If you look at some of Sugg’s career stats, Earl for his career, he averages 12.3 points a game, 11.8 as a rookie, 9.9 as a secondyear player, 12.6 his third year. He was averaging 16.2 points per game this season, but he was shooting 41% from the floor and 31% from three. He was making 2.2 of his 6.9 three-point attempts per game. And as far as his facilitating goes, he was averaging 3.7 assists. Now, you could say Orlando didn’t have a ton of shooters. It was a stagnant offense. Those numbers could be higher in a better system. Well, yes, that is all valid and true. But the reality is that Jaylen Suggs coming out of Gonzaga was not known as a shooter. And throughout his career, four seasons is not a small sample size. Is that he’s not a great three-point shooter. He’s streaky. He can get hot, but he’s not a great playmaker. He’s not a great three-point shooter. And I’m not sure how anyone could watch that Indiana series. watch that fivegame butt whooping the Cavs took and say, “Man, you know what? Our defense was the real issue.” To me, it was an offensive problem. The Cavs went through these significant scoring droughts and Indiana was able to capitalize when they needed a bucket late in games. Indiana put three guys essentially on Donovan Mitchell and said, “Hey, Donovan, this is you against the world. Go make something happen.” He did it time after time, but late in games wasn’t able to come through. And I think frankly the Cavs, and I don’t know where Earl went, ladies and gentlemen, but the Cavs, if they’re going to move on from Darius Garland, need to get something back that emulates the hole left behind by Darius. Donovan can’t be your sole creator. And yes, Evan’s going to take a step forward and make progress. Hopefully, his usage rate goes up, so they’ll take a little of the pressure off Donovan, whoever his backcourt partner will be. But the Cavs operated at this historically efficient offensive rate because they had so many different guys that during the regular season can generate a bucket, can generate rotations defensively, can get in the paint, can make the defense, force them into mismatches and attack. And Suggs is just a downgrade in that regard compared to Darius. I understand the appeal, but in my opinion, trading Darius for Suggs and whoever else you would get to Silva, maybe someone else in a pick, whatever that downgrade is doesn’t solve the main issues with Cleveland. And also, if we want to get on Darius Garland for being potentially soft and missing playoff games, or you know, Darius has played 50 more games in the last four seasons than Jaylen Suggs has. Yeah, Jayen SS has missed more career playoff games than Donovan Mitchell has, despite the fact that he’s been in fewer playoff appearances. So, it’s not like, okay, we’re trading a guy who may not be healthy in the postseason for a guy who’s some pinnacle of durability. Suggs has played literally 50 less games. I don’t I don’t love that move. I’m open to other Darius moves. I don’t think that one solves the main issue. So, I I’m inclined to agree with you. Like even though if you get a guy like Jaylen Suggs in return, you do get better defensively, you kind of get tougher and he is a compliment to Donovan Mitchell’s playing style. But as you alluded to when you know I had the internet issues and have you and how you’ve alluded to numerous times this week when the Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves with their back against the wall, it wasn’t because of defensive issues. It was because we couldn’t score the damn basketball when we needed to. And so, you know, you said earlier this week on one of our shows, any any return player that we get for Darius Garland, it has to be a guy that can create. It has to be a guy that can go out there and get a bucket because you’re going to find yourself in the same situation that you was in last year in the playoffs, the year before that, the playoffs, when you was in the playin tournament. So, yeah, I definitely agree with you. But before we wrap this up and move, can I can I give you one stat on that real quick? Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Last three playoff runs for the Cavs, it’s been offense, it’s been offense, it’s been offense. In the regular season in 23, the Cavs offensive rating was seventh in the NBA. Their playoff offensive rating would have ranked 30th, dead last in the NBA. In 24, their offensive rating was 18th in the league. In the playoffs, it dropped to what would have been 25th in basketball. This year, they had the number one offensive rating in the entire NBA, the second best all time. In the playoffs, it dropped down to 22nd. They need guys who can score the ball when defenses tighten up. I’m not sure Suggs solves that issue if you’re getting rid of Darius. Real quick before we move on, if if there was a trade out there that you could make uh for Darius Garland, who would it be? I have a list. I haven’t finalized it yet, Earl, but give us a teaser. I don’t know. New Orleans said Trey Murphy’s available. If you could get Trey Murphy, I’d be I’d be willing to part ways with Darius if Trey Murphy was one of the pieces coming back is mainly the centerpiece.

With trade rumors surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers in late May following their exit from the NBA Playoffs in the second round, Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor floated an idea that he feels could make sense for both the Cavs and Orlando Magic.

A general framework of Jalen Suggs and Tristan da Silva for Darius Garland would work financially if either party decided there was interest. Of course, there’s a possibility where draft capital could be involved.

Earl Da Pearl and Mikey McNuggets share their thoughts on Fedor’s proposal and the rumor mill churning in Cleveland.

Ethan Sands and Chris Fedor discuss the Cavs’ roster decisions amidst salary cap challenges, and potential trade scenarios involving Darius Garland.

Darius Garland’s trade value is significant in the current market.
Jalen Suggs could provide defensive strength for the Cavs.
The Cavs are committed to their core but may consider trades.
The importance of mental toughness in playoff performance is highlighted.
Trade scenarios must consider the long-term vision of the team.
The Cavs are approaching a championship-or-bust mentality.
The Sacramento Kings and Orlando Magic, both in need of a starting point guard, could be top suitors for Darius Garland.

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