The Cleveland Cavaliers took a gamble when they traded two-time All-Star Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for former MVP James Harden. It was a win-now move that caused many to have second-guesses. After all, Harden was more expensive and far older. The move all but hastened the Cavaliers' window to compete by a significant margin. Not to mention the baggage that came with Harden.
Garland, for his part, didn't help those who wanted him to stay. He was injured for a bulk of the season and wasn't playing well. While his play did improve around the time of the trade, many saw this move as a potential upgrade. While it's impossible to say that the Cavaliers couldn't have made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals with Garland instead of Harden, there are those who argue that Harden's arrival helped facilitate that run.
While it can be debated whether Harden or Garland made the Cavaliers a bigger threat in the East, what can't be debated is that Garland wanted out. Even before he was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers.
According to his agent, Rich Paul, Garland was looking at moving on from the Cavaliers in 2024. Speaking on the Game Over podcast, hosted by Max Kellerman, Paul revealed that Garland wanted out of Cleveland after playing just two years with Donovan Mitchell.
"He (Garland) was flustered," Paul told Kellerman. "He was frustrated. He wanted to get out. We were having a conversation, and I said to him at the time, ‘You got to get somewhere where you can… I don’t want you to take a dip.'”
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Garland went even further, speaking to the Ball In The Family Podcast, hosted by former teammate Lonzo Ball. In the sit-down, Garlad revealed that he wasn't happy in Cleveland, citing how he found his 'joy' again for the game after moving to LA.
"Coming to a system where I can actually be me," Garland said. "Have the ball in my hand for the majority of the game and actually have control of the pace of the game. Just being like a second coach out there, literally. It was fun when I was out there playing, for sure. I got my joy back."
It does appear that having to share ball-handling duties with Mitchell, as well as having a similar style of play, hindered Garland. After moving to the Clippers, Garland looked to have a more positive impact on his new team than he had provided previously. That may be due to having healed from his toe issues, or it could be a change to his responsibilities, or he may just have been happy to be somewhere else.
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