The Magic's road through East playoffs just got harder at NBA Trade Deadline

For some teams, the NBA Trade Deadline giveth; for others, the trade deadline taketh away.

Between the Cavaliers swapping Garland for Harden, the Celtics trading Simons for Vucevic, and the Wizards adding Anthony Davis for prospects and picks, the Magic's road through the East playoffs just got a lot tougher.

Two former playoff rivals and one division foe with a playoff-mandate have made fairly monumental moves to improve this week, and it's not exactly the best time for an up-and-down Magic team.

What do these new additions mean for the Magic's playoff outlook looking forward?

The Magic's Eastern Conference Playoff Foes just got stronger

Cavs sit — Apr 2, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) and guard Donovan Mitchell (45) wait along side head coach Kenny Atkinson to enter the game during the first half against the New York Knicks at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

1. Cavaliers swap Garland for Harden

Garland and Harde — Jan 17, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) drives to the basket against Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden (13) during the second half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cavaliers are taking a swing on short-term success in exchange for long-term potential.

Darius Garland was clearly the better long term option in this trade, but he's been hurt, and reportedly wanted to pave a way to leading his own team where he can get the lion's share of guard touches.

Garland got his wish, heading to the Clippers to play with Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac.

Meanwhile in Cleveland, Harden injects an instant spark of scoring creation to this group, potentially taking the offense to a whole new level combining the strengths of point Harden, scorer Mitchell, and finisher Mobley.

Orlando preparing its already strong perimeter defenders in Suggs, Black, Wagner, Penda and Isaac for the opportunity to guard these stars over a full playoff series is needed; attacking the Cavs offensive-minded guards to take advantage of their defensive weakness on the perimeter will be key; but don't be fooled, Harden holds his own as a post-up defender with feel.

2. Celtics swap Simons in exchange for Vucevic

Vucevic backs down Tatum — Jan 29, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic (9) controls the ball while Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) defends during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Celtics made a solid move on the margins before the deadline, swapping guard Anfernee Simons for center Nikola Vucevic, reallocating salary from an extra offensive option for a deep guard bench to a frontcourt desperately needing an infusion of talent.

Adding Vucevic gives Boston a big man who fits right into their team's style of play, at least offensively: a reliable floor spacer, rebounder, connective passer, and mismatch postup scorer that can assist the team's 3pt heavy offense with heavier usage as a scorer immediately and likely scale down to the 3rd/4th option just as easily once Jayson Tatum returns to the fold.

While Vucevic has clear minuses on defense with lack of switchability, mobility, versatility, he can be effective as a drop defender in pick-and-roll when he is motivated to do so, and this is the best chance to win real playoff games that Vooch has ever had in his career.

Adding Nikola Vucevic to this offense could resemble Boston adding Kristaps Porzingis, though Vucevic is not nearly as instinctual of a defender as KP; the Tatum & Brown Celtics adding Vooch isn't quite the LeBron & Kyrie Cavs landing Kevin Love, but it's certainly in the ball park of that idea.

The Magic will attack their former All-Star Center at the rim and force him to switch onto the perimeter, while the Celtics will hope to win a shootout.

3. Wizards pair Anthony Davis with Trae Young

Anthony Davis defends Trae Young — Apr 2, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) looks to pass as Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) defends during the fourth quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Washington hasn't faced this Orlando team in the playoffs, but they look like they could be back in the mix as soon as next season.

The Wizards pulled off a little-to-no risk high-reward trade here of high value for what they gave up. Washington reallocated salary of bench players to a possible co-star, and all it took was two late firsts and three second-rounders in the future, a large collection of low-value trade pieces with incredibly low odds of producing NBA players, let alone potential stars.

Washington got by far the best trade piece and player in the trade in AD, and didn't have to give up a blue-chip piece to do it; they found a potential rim-rolling pick-and-popping rim-protecting defensive anchor to pair with Trae.

The Wizards gave up cap space flexibility for a potential star to cash in on some flexibility for a proven star who might still bring star-level two-way impact, with the hope that Anthony Davis stays on the floor next season to form a real dynamic pick-and-pop duo with Trae Young.

A team like Washington is unlikely to attract stars in free agency, and those picks are likely to be in the late 20s and 30s or later, meaning the Wizards probably made the most of their options with that flexibility, other than truly playing the long game, which may have gone out the door once they brought in Trae.

The value of those picks was still properly utilized in this trade for the Wizards to make a talent upgrade acquisition by reallocating salary from bench players and potential flexibility into a proven star who could end up fitting perfectly as an anchor of a rising playoff team, with the option for Washington to flip him right back somewhere else to bring back that flexibility if things go south.

The Magic's backcourt defense will help slow down Trae, how they handle defending the Trae-AD P&R remains to be seen.