Darius Garland may be in a better situation with the LA Clippers than he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Based on the fact that they traded him, it’s clear the Cavs didn’t have the ultimate belief in Garland. And while it’s only been a few games with the Clippers, considering they don’t have much of a youth movement going on, it feels like they could look to build around Garland.
He’s already performing well for the Clippers. Part of that is the fact that he’s been able to actually get on the court in LA, but he’s also putting up solid numbers and, more importantly, helping the Clippers win games. They could have fallen off after trading James Harden and Ivica Zubac, but Garland has helped keep their playoff hopes alive.
And he already looks like he should be a big part of the organization’s future.
Darius Garland might be better off in LA than Cleveland
The Clippers have won three games in a row and are 6-4 in their last 10 games. They’ll almost certainly be a Play-In team, but considering how poorly they began the season, that’s not too bad.
And Garland has been a big part of the team’s success lately. He’s not playing quite as many minutes as he was in Cleveland just yet (though some of that could be due to his injury history), but his stats have been great.
In his first five appearances with the Clippers, including three starts, Garland has played 25.4 minutes per contest. He was playing 30.5 per game with the Cavs this year before the trade (in 26 appearances).
So far in LA, Garland has averaged 17.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 47.1% from the floor and a red-hot 45.9% from deep on 7.1 three-point attempts per contest.
The Cavaliers got older when they traded for Harden. To some, that was an odd choice. But for Cleveland, they avoided some future CBA issues and improved their short-term ceiling.
However, Garland is now looking good on the Clippers, and he seemingly fits in a bit better with the structure they have in place than the one the Cavaliers had.
Obviously, the Cavaliers had an incredible regular season last year, but it didn’t end up working out in the playoffs. With Leonard by his side and some underrated defensive pieces, the Clippers could make a run.
Plus, with the future assets they got from the Zubac trade, LA could potentially look to build around Garland and Bennedict Mathurin moving forward.
So, though the trade seemed a bit awkward in real time, Garland may be better off in LA than he was in Cleveland. At least, in the long run.