Trade Grades: Cavs deal Harris to Orlando, get high marks

The Deal

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Cavaliers get: 2020 Portland second-round pick (top-55 protected)

Magic get: Guard Joe Harris, 2017 Sacramento second-round pick (top-55 protected), cash

Cleveland Cavaliers: A

The Cavaliers had reportedly been looking to move Harris since early in the season. Even before undergoing season-ending foot surgery last week, the second-year guard had fallen out of favor and played just 15 minutes all season.

Because the Cavaliers are so deep into the luxury tax, simply leaving the 15th spot on their roster open would save them nearly $3.4 million in tax payments. Factor in Harris' remaining salary and the money sent to Orlando (about $1 million, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst) and Cleveland would end up ahead by nearly $3 million.

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Alternatively, the Cavaliers might use the extra roster spot to sign a player bought out by his team after the trade deadline. Cleveland would still save money in the process, but not as much.

It's unclear at this point what kind of player the Cavaliers might target now that their roster is healthy, but the flexibility is valuable to have.

Orlando Magic: B

The Magic were one of a handful of teams with a roster spot available to make this kind of trade. For their trouble, they'll end up making about $500,000 in profit.

Alas, Orlando couldn't get any pick value out of taking Harris' salary off of Cleveland's hands. Both second-round picks in this trade are top-55 protected and unlikely to ever convey -- "phantom picks," in the parlance of my ESPN colleague Amin Elhassan.

Even though Harris' 2016-17 salary was non-guaranteed, according to the Orlando Sentinel the Magic plan to waive him instead of seeing how he recovers.

Harris must prove he can match his college sharpshooting (he shot 40.7 percent beyond the arc in his career at Virginia) in the NBA in order to stick. He has shot just 36.4 percent on 3s in limited NBA action and has actually been worse (29.1 percent) in 20 D-League appearances.