Darius Garland made an impact right away when he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers at the deadline for James Harden and the way that he's described the process, it seems like Garland has found a home in Los Angeles. 

He spent the first six-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Cavaliers, earning two All-Star selections and Clutch Player of the Year votes in the 2024-25 season, but over the past few seasons his production slowly declined, going from a peak of 21.7 pints per game down to 18 points per game before he was traded. 

A notable change to the Cavaliers roster came in the 2022-23 season when Cleveland signed Donovan Mitchell, and while Garland had another stellar season in his first year playing alongside Mitchell, his production slowly declined while his minutes per game dropped from a peak of over 35 per game down to just above 30. 

Garland didn't put any blame on Mitchell, but it is natural to see how the addition of another ball-dominant guard, especially one as high profile as Mitchell, can throw a big wrench into the way that Garland had been accustomed to playing. 

It reached a point where Garland felt out of synch in Cleveland, but when he made the change to Los Angeles, everything changed and he felt comfortable again, as he described on the "Ball in the Family" podcast, where he was speaking with his former Cavaliers teammate Lonzo Ball.

“It’s been great, bro. Coming into a system where I can actually be me, have the ball in my hands for a majority of the game, have control over the pace, and be like a second coach out there. It was fun while I was out there playing, for sure. I got my joy back," Garland said. 

To say that Garland had lost his joy at all is certainly a big declaration and it speaks to the way he was feeling nearing the tail end of his time in Cleveland. 

It also speaks to the way that the Cavaliers were running their organization, and with the amount of personnel changes the team made at the deadline, such as trading for Harden, it shines a light into the organization's philosophy with it's players. 

That approach to the second half of the season ultimately didn't pan out for the Cavaliers after suffering a four-game sweep to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this season, a series that Garland said he only watched a bit of, saying it was"tough to watch" after remembering how the season began.

That doesn't have to be any more of his concern now, though, as he's playing in Los Angeles and found his joy in the game once again.