Orlando Magic
The Cleveland Cavaliers receive: Aaron Gordon, DJ Augustin, and Two 2020 2nd round draft pick
Orlando Magic receive: Kevin Love
Another fringe playoff team, another Kevin Love trade.
There is no prize for being mediocre in the NBA. You either shoot for the stars or ride the wave to the bottom of the heap. The NBA does not reward you for being a respectable team.
The Orlando Magic very much falls in the respectable category. They have a solid team who competes on a nightly basis, they are well-coached and they have a loyal fanbase.
However, as things currently stand, the Magic are on the fringe of the playoff picture. A serious push is needed on there part to get themselves immersed in the playoff race.
The good news for the Magic, Kevin Love would very much give them a chance to make a serious push up the playoff standings.
With Kevin Love and Nikola Vucevic, the Magic would have two big men capable of rebounding, scoring at an All-Star level, who are above average passers for their positions, both capable of shooting the 3-ball at an above-average clip for their positions and who are veterans within this league meaning that they know how to win and to finish out games.
For the Cavaliers, they receive Aaron Gordon, a player who has not quite reached the heights expected of him when he was drafted 4th by the Orlando Magic in 2014.
Gordon is still only 24 years old. There is a lot of potential left in this young man waiting to be realized. With the Cavaliers, Gordon can take more of a leadership role that has not been made available for him with the Magic.
While Gordon is known for his rim-rattling highlight-reel dunks, he is far from a one-trick pony. He is a very capable and willing passer who can find his wide-open teammates out of double teams, he is a solid rebounder who is capable of taking the ball up the court and either going coast to coast for a monstrous slam or making the correct pass to his teammates.
With Gordon under a team-friendly contract for the next two seasons, the Cavaliers would be getting a valuable trade asset if Gordon does push on to the next level.
While DJ Augustin would mainly be added to the deal to make the salaries work, he is still an extremely capable point guard. Augustin was able to show this during the Magic’s brief playoff stint last year. Hitting a game-winner against the then soon to be champions Toronto Raptors.
While the Cavaliers have a glut of young guards, moving Augustin in a trade to create even more draft capital would be a good idea.
With teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers seemingly in the market for a point guard, demand might be high for Augustin.