Report: Cavs have ‘little interest’ in helping Magic improve amid Darius Garland buzz

The Orlando Magic have been floated in trade ideas related to Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland.

Cavaliers insider Chris Fedor proposed Magic guard Jalen Suggs as a possible trade target for Cleveland in a potential Garland trade. While Suggs isn’t an All-Star like Garland, he is a standout defender and major upgrade on that end of the floor over the Cavs guard.

According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, however, the Cavaliers aren’t keen on helping the Magic out. He claimed that the Cavaliers possess “little interest” in aiding Orlando as the Magic look to take the next step toward contention in the Eastern Conference.

“Will Orlando chase an All-Star talent like Atlanta’s Trae Young?” Fischer wrote. “For all the noise these days around Darius Garland in Cleveland, we’ve been reliably told that the Cavaliers and Magic have not held substantive conversations on a Garland deal … and that Cleveland has little interest in helping Orlando improve its standing in the Eastern Conference. But the Magic have the means to go shopping for a number of veterans. Boston is most definitely listening on calls for Jrue Holiday, sources say. There in theory remains an opening for teams to broach Houston about sign—and-trades for Fred VanVleet, but sources say that the [Houston] Rockets have every intention of bringing back the veteran guard next season.”

Garland had a tough time in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. He was limited to just five appearances in the playoffs due to the injury bug, and even when he was able to suit up, he didn’t usually look like himself.

After all, Garland saw his scoring average take a dip in the playoffs compared to the regular season, and his scoring efficiency also worsened. He averaged 18.0 points per game while shooting just 42.0 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range in the third playoff run of his pro career. It’s likely safe to assume that his numbers would’ve looked different had he been healthy.

Although Garland has flaws, it’s unclear if Cleveland’s best course of action would be to move him this summer. Even with his shaky playoff track record and poor reputation as a defender, when Garland is playing up to his standards, the Cavaliers can find another gear and be very difficult to stop.

In the 2024-25 regular season, he averaged 20.6 points, 6.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from long range.

With how important Garland is to Cleveland’s offense both as a scorer and facilitator, maybe the smart move from the Cavaliers’ side of the coin would be to hold onto him in the hope that he’ll be fully healthy when the 2026 NBA Playoffs start up.