The Cleveland Cavaliers rewarded Darius Garland with a mammoth five-year, $193 million extension last July to be one of their franchise cornerstones for many years to come. So when a report came out Wednesday from Hoops Wire claiming the Cavs are open to trading their point guard, that rumor was quickly shut down by a pair of team reporters who made it clear the team isn’t about to move one of their best players.
To be brutally honest, it’s absolutely asinine that such a report even came out. I mean, Garland is a star who serves as the Cavs’ best playmaker and the co-star for Donovan Mitchell in the Cleveland backcourt. He just averaged 21.6 points and 7.8 assists in 2022-23 and shot 41% from downtown and also put up respectable numbers in the playoffs.
Koby Altman has a strong core intact right now with Garland, Spida, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley. There’s a strong belief they can make a deep playoff run, despite the disappointing first-round exit a couple of months ago at the hands of the New York Knicks.
For the time being, the Cavs at least need to give this current group the chance to contend in the East. If that doesn’t happen within the next one or two years then sure, you can talk about splitting them up. But for the time being, Darius Garland is a Cav and will continue to be an important part of what they do on both ends of the floor.
A trade should be, and is, completely out of the question.