Should the Washington Wizards Trade for Darius Garland?

We are 24 games into the regular season and the Washington Wizards have already fallen 16 games behind the .500 mark. However, Wizards fans can always count on mid-season trade rumors to entertain them during what is shaping up to be another disappointing season. 

According to NBA analyst Jake Weinbach, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland is being heavily monitored by teams leading up to February's trade deadline, given his availability.

Weinbach notes that the Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards are potential fits for Garland if Cleveland decides to entertain the idea of trading him. 

At the young age of 25, Garland is a two time All-Star (2022 & 2025) and is considered one of the better floor generals in the association. However, Garland has struggled to find offensive consistency this season, shooting a career low from the field (36.2%) and from three (28.2%). 

Garland signed a five-year, $193 million dollar contract extension with Cleveland in July of 2022, meaning that he wouldn't be a free agent until after the 2027-28 season. 

Although trading Garland could set Cleveland back, Washington would finally get their point guard of the future -- something they haven't had since the John Wall days. 

If Washington were to pursue a trade for Garland, it would cost an arm and a leg as Cleveland would demand impact players to help them pursue a championship.

Sophomore Bub Carrington would likely be included in a Garland deal, as Cleveland would want a guard in return. Washington has multiple impact players that could be included as well -- Khris Middleton and Justin Champagnie come to mind. 

If Washington is legit about adding a player of Garland's caliber, they would have to be comfortable with parting from some of their better core players.

We all know that Will Dawkins and Brian Winger aren't scared to make bold moves, but if they were to acquire Darius Garland, that would be the biggest trade in their tenure as Wizards GM. 

Meanwhile, Washington will now look to string together its first win streak after taking down Indiana on the road for a 108-89 win since beating the Pistons and Nuggets on March 13 and 15 during the 2024-25 season. General manager Will Dawkins noted the Wizards could get a handful of key players back over the next ten days.

“I think you will see Bilal [Coulibaly] come back here pretty quickly. Hopefully Alex, at some point at the end of this week is trending, if not early next week,'" Dawkins said on Tuesday. "Khris Middleton right around that same page. So we're starting to get guys healthy. It was good to see Tre [Johnson] get back there, even though he was on that 15 minutes cap, pretty much. But you’ll start seeing a little bit more there. And then Corey [Kispert], with his broken thumb, has started progressing, doing more on the course. So I think Khris, Bilal and Alex are probably within the week to ten days, hopefully sooner, and then not too much further after that with Corey.”