Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 trade possibilities for J.R. Smith

2. Orlando Magic

In this scenario, the Cleveland Cavaliers would swap two members of their historic 2016 championship team, Timofey Mozgov and J.R. Smith. Mozgov made his departure from Cleveland directly after winning the title and has since been a member of three different teams.

Mozgov’s most recent home has been the Orlando Magic, where he has not appeared in a single game. He’s missed the entire season thus far due to a knee injury that required surgery. As a result, the Magic are paying him $16 million a year to recover from his injury.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are paying Smith $14 million to be away from the team. If these two teams decided to swap players, they could be doing each other a favor.

Bringing Mozgov back to Cleveland would be a huge victory for the Cavaliers. Their depth chart for the center position is very thin and they have not had a real seven-footer holding down the paint in years. Once healthy again, Mozgov will be a welcomed addition to the team.