Darius Garland only got one season as an All-Star caliber guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers before being asked to sacrifice in a backcourt pairing with Donovan Mitchell. During that time, there were a lot of murmurings and whispers that suggested maybe the now former Cav wanted his own team.
While it will be difficult to ever truly prove just how true those rumors ever were, there are at least some hints being dropped that may lead one to believe they were not totally without substance. Garland's own words in Marc J. Spears' write-up for Andscape have a few read between the lines moments scattered throughout.
"When it first happened, I was kind of skeptical," Garland said. "But I couldn’t turn down this opportunity to play with another Hall of Famer [Kawhi Leonard] and having a ball in my hands d*** near 99 percent of the time.”
It's the last part of that statement that causes great intrigue. Could that be Garland quietly revealing his desire for a bigger share of the offensive pie? Or, is it simply a case of overanalyzing a particular choice of words?
Darius Garland will get to run the Clippers offense like he never did in Cleveland
Part of the reason why many could believe this is not a case of overthinking the choice of words would be the fact they got repeated. Spears' feature on Garland had increased offensive opportunity brought up more than just once in the excitement of joining the Los Angeles Clippers.
Garland also said, "I’m over here in a really good situation. I have the ball in my hand a lot more where I could do me a little bit more."
Connecting the dots could lead one to the conclusion that with the dust settled on the trade, maybe the former Cavs guard really did want more offensive responsibility. After a career-high usage percentage (27.8) in 2021-22, Garland saw a lower number in that category in every following season with Mitchell. Granted, 2024-25 came pretty close with a mark of 27.2.
This could be a case of confirmation bias for many. Those who want to believe the issues with Garland and Mitchell were overblown will dismiss the conversation as too much talk. Those at the opposite end of the spectrum will use it as validation.
For the latter, it would be hard to blame them for reading the tea leaves here. While there was ultimately nothing definitive that was said, some will take the quotes from Garland here and run a mile with them.