Why Darius Garland Could Be the Face of LA Clippers

Most NBA teams have one player who sells the tickets and takes the big shots, and for the Los Angeles Clippers that job opened up this summer when the team traded forward Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors.

I think point guard Darius Garland should be the one to take it, because at 26 years old he has the age, the contract and the game to carry this team for the next several years.

The Clippers got Garland from the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 4 in a trade that sent guard James Harden to Cleveland, with Cleveland also sending a 2026 second-round pick to Los Angeles.

Garland, a two-time All-Star, was out with a right big toe sprain when the deal went through, but he still averaged 19.9 points and 6.4 assists in 19 games with the Clippers while making 43.8% of his threes.

The Leonard deal brought back forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, a pick swap and two second-round picks.

Garland has looked at home with that group in the preseason, scoring 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting with six assists in 15 minutes in a 104-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 4 in Honolulu, and he talked up his new teammates after that game.

He was less sharp in Vancouver on Saturday, scoring 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting with four assists in 19 minutes in a 114-106 loss to the Raptors.

Garland sounded sure of this group when he spoke at media day in late September.

"I think we can surprise a lot of people," Garland said.

I like that answer, because the face of a team should be the one who believes in the group before anyone else does.

The Clippers are also paying him like a lead player, through the five-year, $193 million extension he signed with Cleveland in 2022, which pays him about $42.2 million this season and $44.9 million next season.

Teams do not pay that much to a player they are not building around.

Leonard is 35, while Garland is young enough to grow with rookie guard Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 pick in this year's draft, who looks likely to start next to him in the backcourt while guard Max Strus is out.

Health is the biggest question, since Garland had played more than 70 games only once in his first seven seasons before the trade.

The roster is also banged up, as Strus suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot in the opener and will be checked again in four weeks.

Ingram and center Yanic Konan Niederhauser are also expected to miss the start of the season.

That puts even more on Garland early, but it also gives him the chance to show that this team runs through him.

The Clippers host the Denver Nuggets at Intuit Dome on Wednesday, then open the regular season at home against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

If Garland stays healthy and keeps running the offense the way he did in Honolulu, I think the Clippers will have their new face sooner than most people expect.