CLEVELAND, Ohio — The ride stops here for Darius Garland, right before the best part. Just as the Cavs point their car toward its apex, they yank Garland from his seat.
They trade him for Clippers guard James Harden, the one-time MVP, eight-time All-NBA selection, 11-time All-Star, and all-time basketball mercenary. Harden will soon play for a fourth team in his last five seasons.
Garland has — sorry, had — only played for one.
Basketball is a business, but the right job can still feel like home. So said Garland during last May’s exit interviews, conducted hours after another crushing playoff exit. The Cavs had just lost to Indiana, and Garland — specifically, Garland’s injured toe — bore much of the blame.
He missed two of the series’ five games. He hobbled through the other three. He would soon need surgery.
But when asked about his journey in Cleveland, he could still feel the love.
“It means a lot,” Garland said last May. “My first year, we won 18 games, 19 games. So seeing the growth over the years, it’s cool to see it because you see it from the ground up. I mean, you’ve seen all the progress that we made.
“You’ve seen all the moves that we made just to get to this spot, and we’re in a good spot, but we’re not satisfied at all. It’s definitely a lot different levels (better) than what we’re doing right now, and we have to reach those levels to get to where we want to be. So it’s really cool to see the progress, of course, but it’ll be even more sweeter when we get to the top where we want to be at.”
He spoke as one of Cleveland’s elder statesmen — an oxymoron for most 25-year-olds, but not for the longest tenured player on last year’s Cavs (tied with forward Dean Wade).
Before Cleveland replaced Garland with Harden, or thrust him under Donovan Mitchell’s spotlight, or found its post-LeBron-era footing, Garland sat next to fellow first-round pick Dylan Windler and coach John Beilein at a podium inside Cleveland’s practice facility. The 20-year-old Garland wore short hair, a clean shave and a charcoal-colored Cavs polo shirt buttoned up to the collar during his first press conference in 2019
And he said then that he saw “crazy” possibilities for himself and his new backcourt mate, Collin Sexton. Beilein said the guards would make a “beautiful” pair.
They were both right.
Crazy came first during Garland’s rookie year. Fifty-four games into an ugly, 19-win, pandemic-shortened season, Beilein resigned. The coach struggled to resonate with the pros and told them as much. He released a statement saying the losses wore on him.
Welcome to the league, rookie point guard.
Beauty soon followed under coach J.B. Bickerstaff, even if you had to squint. Cleveland won 22 games during Garland’s second season and 44 during his third. Neither team made the playoffs, but fans found joy in discovering the team’s talents.
While sifting through the lean years, you can see the seeds of Garland’s pick-and-roll chemistry with Jarrett Allen. Or the same silky floater that Garland utilizes today. Or the crossover dribbles that draw YouTube clicks.
By Year 3, Garland had earned an All-Star selection and helped Cleveland reach the Play-In Tournament. But when the Cavs traded for Donovan Mitchell in September of 2022, they put his Mitchell’s younger teammates on trial.
For the next three postseasons, people tried Garland, Mobley and Allen — all 24 or younger when Mitchell arrived — like adults. And Garland’s verdict often read guilty.
Against the Knicks, fans labeled him “soft” alongside the rest of his teammates while he battled through a bad back. The following season, they questioned his playoff readiness despite dealing with fallout from a broken jaw. Last year, I thought people recognized that Garland’s toe limited his production. But this raised a new question.
Can Cleveland trust him to stay healthy?
The Cavs answered that question — and/or reaffirmed the others — with Tuesday’s trade. They’re choosing 36-year-old Harden, himself a noted playoff underperformer, over 26-year-old Garland, who helped steer the franchise through a rebuild.
No turning back now, no matter how much gratitude he professes.
“It’s a lot of love for this city,” Garland said last spring. “I call it like my second home now. I love the city. I love the people here. It reminds me of where I grew up, Gary, Indiana. So it really does feel like home to me.
“I really appreciate everybody here. I appreciate all y’all here. Just the connection that we’ve grown and just talking to you guys on a day-to day basis basically is super cool. Y’all damn near family to me now. So it’s super cool just to have y’all around and see the fans. Even when I’m out, they’re always supporting. It’s all love here.”
Or at least, it was. But now it’s all over. The Cavs plan to finish their climb without the player who started it.
Maybe they’ll send Garland a postcard from the peak.