NBA: The Winners And Losers Of The NBA Trade Dud-Line

Orlando Magic – LOSERS

Moves: Trade Tobias Harris To DET For Ersan Ilyasova, Brandon Jennings; Traded Channing Frye To CLE For Jared Cunningham and Second-Round Pick

In essence, the Magic really just got Ersan Ilyasova, Brandon Jennings and a second-round pick for Channing Frye and Tobias Harris. Orlando will likely waive Jared Cunningham.

To be fair, even though that doesn’t look great on paper, the Magic’s clear goal at the NBA Trade Deadline was to create cap space for the summer. With everything that they did during the past week, if nothing else, the Magic will have plenty of cap flexibility come the summer. They’ll have to re-sign Evan Fournier and will likely chase one of the many big name free agents. They’ll have plenty of money to throw around.

All in all, after what transpired Thursday, the Magic has to be kicking themselves for not prying a first-round pick out of the hands of Stan Van Gundy in Detroit. After the Magic tossed Harris to Detroit sans a first-round pick, we saw the Wizards trade a first-round pick for Markieff Morris and the same Pistons throw a first-round pick to Houston for the always-injured Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton.

That alone is the only reason why I consider the Magic losers at the NBA Trade Deadline. They probably should’ve held off a little more in hopes of parting with Harris for a better deal.

Next: Detroit Pistons