The Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic have both reportedly pursued Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland ahead of the 2025 NBA draft.
The Suns reached out to the Cavaliers about Garland while seeking a trade destination for Kevin Durant, Windhorst said Wednesday on ESPN Cleveland (5:00 mark.)
“The Suns, from what I am told, were the ones that reached out, that had interest in Garland. It was not the Cavs who wanted to trade Garland,” Windhorst said.
The Suns ultimately traded Durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick of the 2025 draft and five second-rounders.
Garland is heading into the third season of his five-year, $197 million deal with the Cavs. He underwent surgery this month on a toe injury that could cause him to miss the beginning of the 2025-26 season, per Windhorst and Shams Charania.
According to Windhorst, the Cavaliers told the Suns they would only consider trading Garland to Phoenix in exchange for Durant in addition to other assets.
“I think the Cavs’ price was basically Kevin Durant and multiple first-round picks, and the Suns were not unwilling,” Windhorst said.
Windhorst pointed out that the Suns could have potentially included the Cavaliers’ first-round pick of the 2029 draft. The Cavs initially traded the pick to the Utah Jazz as part of the 2022 deal for Donovan Mitchell before the Suns acquired it earlier this year.
He noted that the Cavaliers might have been forced to at least consider the trade because of their position over the second apron. The Cavaliers are currently $13 million over the limit and face a projected franchise-record tax bill of $57 million, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
“The Suns didn’t hang up the phone… but the Cavs, to do that trade, would have had to offload salary, because they just couldn’t take it on,” Windhorst said. “And I do think they had some calls about bringing in third teams. So, it wasn’t one call. And it wouldn’t have been just Durant.”
Windhorst said at least one of the teams the Suns talked to as a potential third party in the deal has “made another trade taking on salary in the time since.”
One possible match to that description is the Brooklyn Nets, who took home a fifth first-round pick of the 2025 draft in exchange for taking on Terance Mann’s contract as part of the three-team trade that send Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks.
Windhorst also confirmed the Magic had reached out to the Suns about Garland before acquiring Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies.
NBA insider Jake Fischer has reported earlier this month that the Cavs and Magic “had not held substantive conversations on a Garland deal,” and that “Cleveland has little interest in helping Orlando improve its standing in the Eastern Conference.”
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