Darius Garland knew the Cleveland Cavaliers would trade him.
The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden in a rare win-win trade.
Harden is thriving with the Cavaliers and Garland is playing well with the Clippers.
Now that it's been a month since the trade, Garland opened up about Cleveland trading him to Los Angeles like never before during an interview with Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
“It’s a new chapter of my life,” Garland said. “Rich [Paul] talked about it even last summer, before it happened, (saying) it’s probably going to be our last year there. So, I was ready for it. I knew it was going to come sooner or later. So, when it happened, I was like, ‘Let’s just do it. Let’s rock out.’
“It’s like a new breath of life, like a revamp. Being around the guys makes it a lot easier because they’re so welcoming. Everybody’s super silly. Everybody’s talkative. My first day there, they were holding their arms out, for real, like, ‘Welcome.’ A lot of big brothers on this team.”
Garland is averaging 21.3 points and 7.0 assists per game with the Clippers. While the All-Star misses Cleveland, he's enjoying his new home in Los Angeles.
“God blessed me with another day. That’s all I can ask for,” Garland said. “I see the sun. I talk to my family. I’m good.”
Garland finished his Cavaliers career with averages of 18.8 points and 6.7 assists per game. He made two All-Star teams but never led the franchise past the second round of the playoffs.
Cleveland is hoping that Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen can make a deep run in the 2026 playoffs. As of this writing, the Cavaliers are the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
It will be fascinating to see how far the Wine and Gold go in the 2026 playoffs. Once the 2026 playoffs start, all eyes will be on Harden and Mitchell to see how the All-Stars co-exist when the game slows down.
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