Darius Garland Opens Up About Cleveland Cavaliers Trading Him To Los Angeles Clippers: ‘The Toe Definitely Had A Factor In It’
The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off a blockbuster deal at this year’s NBA trade deadline, sending Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden.
The trade paired Harden with Donovan Mitchell and Garland with Kawhi Leonard.
During an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Garland opened up about the Cavaliers trading him to the Clippers.
“I’m good with the change,” Darius Garland said. “When it first happened, I was kind of skeptical. But I couldn’t turn down this opportunity to play with another Hall of Famer [Leonard] and having a ball in my hands damn near 99 percent of the time.”
A two-time All-Star, Garland hasn’t played for the Clippers yet. He’s still recovering from the toe injury that plagued him with the Cavaliers.
Garland, who missed four playoff games in 2025, believes his toe issues played a “big part” in him being traded from Cleveland.
“It was going to happen regardless, either at the [trade] deadline or this summer. [My agent] Rich [Paul] had that conversation with me last summer,” Darius Garland said. “But yeah, the toe definitely had a factor in it. They didn’t know if I was going to be healthy for this season, which I will be. But they thought that James had something that I didn’t, I believe. He has experience in playoffs and All-Star numbers still to this day, even though he wasn’t an All-Star this year. But yeah, they want to win right now. They have a group, too. And I guess I really wasn’t part of the plan.
“But now, 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. I have another superstar [Leonard] next to me. I can go get it as well.”
Garland has appeared in 26 games this season. He’s averaging 18.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 45.1% from the field, 36.0% from 3 and 86.1% from the foul line.
The 26-year-old Garland was the fifth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He holds career averages of 18.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.
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