Former Cleveland Cavs guard Darius Garland looked back on his trade to the LA Clippers ahead of the 2026-27 season. Although Garland holds no hard feelings toward the Cavs for moving him, the aftermath of his trade to the Clippers hasn’t been easy.

ESPN’s Marc Spears asked whether Garland still has a chip on his shoulder from the Cavs’ mid-season trade.

“Yeah, 1,000 percent. It wasn’t even a trade; it was just everything that’s happened. So everybody thought that I was just out of the league, basically,” Garland said. “But now I’m tryna get that spark back, tryna get back to the All-Star level that I’m used to being at.”

Garland averaged 19.9 points on 47.1% shooting, including 43.8% from deep, 6.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game with the Clippers.

Darius Garland has ‘no hard feelings’ after Cavs trade

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Clippers guard Darius Garland is appreciative of his time with the Cavs. After his trade to the Clippers, Garland reflected on his time with the team that drafted him fifth overall in the 2019 draft, per Andscape.com’s Marc Spears.

“I tip my hat off to the whole Cleveland organization. They did put a lot in me, invested a lot in me, and took a lot of risks,” Garland said. “So, I tip my hat off to them. But now I’m in another good situation over here in L.A., trying to do something, trying to rebuild this whole brand of the Clippers, and try to make it one of the biggest teams in L.A.”

Garland is entering the fourth season of his five-year, $197.2 million extension he signed with the Cavs.