The Cleveland Cavaliers know what they have to do: trade All-Star point guard Darius Garland. The problem is that the NBA is signaling they won't trade for him, making the needed move an impossible one.
The Cavaliers are mired in an up-and-down season, a handful of games above .500 and fighting to avoid the Play-In Tournament. The expectation coming into the season was the No. 1 seed and a trip to the NBA Finals, but that dream is getting further away.
After consecutive years of playoff disappointment, the Cavs need a path forward. Modern NBA history screams that having two small guards is not going to deliver high-end playoff success. Perhaps if one of Garland or Donovan Mitchell were a defensive dynamo, but the team-building issues with two small, offense-first guards are too big to ignore.
This is not a surprise; the Cavaliers knew they were fighting history, but the offensive fit of Garland and Mitchell has been so good it seemed worth trying. Fair, but in the process of letting this group have as much time as possible, the market for Garland may have set sail and left Cleveland behind.
Who is trading for Darius Garland?
A fun topic of conversation over the last few seasons has been whether Trae Young or Darius Garland is a better player. Young is a better passer and pure scorer, Garland a more accurate shooter and off-ball player.
Wherever one comes down on that debate, the NBA just voted on how much they value Young: not at all. The tanking Washington Wizards traded salary flotsam and no draft capital to take on his contract.
It's reasonable to make a case that the market for Garland would be more robust. He has proven his ability to play alongside another star -- Young proved the exact opposite -- and his shooting will be attractive to any team in the league.
At the same time, he has been battling injuries the last few seasons, and is out yet again with a foot injury. He is also six feet tall on a good day (listed at 6'1") and gets swallowed up in the playoffs. What team is going to think Garland is the answer to their own path to contention?
There will be offers for Garland should the Cavaliers make him available, but likely not of the kind that Cleveland needs to elevate itself back into true title contention. They can tell themselves right now that if they get healthy, they will be the same 64-win team from last season. Trading him for a couple of backups and a first-round pick? That team isn't winning anything, either.
It's true that the Cavaliers almost certainly cannot win a title starting both Garland and Mitchell in the backcourt. It's also true that it's not worth it to the Cavaliers to trade Garland for flotsam, as the Hawks just did with Trae Young.
The Cleveland Cavaliers need to trade Darius Garland for an impact player on the wing, and the market doesn't appear like it will make such a player available. The league is shifting away from small guards, and that means that any team currently employing one is in trouble.
For better or for worse, a Darius Garland trade doesn't appear to be coming.