The Cleveland Cavaliers fell well short of expectations in the playoffs following a regular season in which they went 64-18 and earned the No. 1 seed in the East.
Cleveland was eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Indiana Pacers, who are one win away from the NBA Finals after beating the New York Knicks in Game 4 on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 Eastern Conference finals lead.
With Cleveland's excellent regular season resulting in only minimal playoff returns, the Cavaliers are reportedly considering only two players to be "untouchable" this summer: All-NBA point guard Donovan Mitchell and All-NBA forward Evan Mobley.
"I think the two untouchables are Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley," Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com said on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast. "I have been getting the sense that the Cavs would be more willing to entertain and at least consider possibilities for Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland than they have in the past."
Fedor went into more specific detail about a trade idea with the Orlando Magic, that would send Garland to Orlando in exchange for veteran Jalen Suggs and rising second-year wing Tristan da Silva.
"I understand that Jalen Suggs is not as good of a player as Darius. I understand that Jalen Suggs is not as naturally gifted or talented as Darius, but he brings a lot of stuff that this team would benefit from. He can handle. He can distribute. He can guard his butt off. He can shoot from the perimeter. He can drive. And he gives you more size, toughness, and tenacity."
It remains to be seen how Cleveland will view this upcoming summer from a roster construction standpoint, but it sounds like they're open to shaking up the core after falling well short of expectations after a fantastic regular season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cavaliers Consider Two Players 'Untouchable' in Trade Talks This Summer.
