When things go poorly for any team, in any sport, the trade rumors start swirling, and vulturous teams inevitably begin circling. Given the disastrous start to the season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, it is only fair to assume that their big names will also pop up in reports.
But so far, those don’t involve Darius Garland. At least not right now.
Jake Fischer of Marc Stein’s Substack reports that there are no “credible” rumblings regarding the availability of the Cavs’ starting point guard. That does
not mean there isn’t some noise, just that there isn’t anything super significant at this time.
Fischer adds that teams are “waiting for the green light” to make “firm” trade offers for Garland and starting center Jarrett Allen, both of whom have been in rumors for the last few seasons.
Allen has dealt with several injuries this season, but he has also been an inconsistent player. Head coach Kenny Atkinson has seemingly wavered in his trust of Allen, opting to play Evan Mobley at center in key moments instead. Then there are the questions regarding his toughness and ability to play with more physical bigs on good teams.
There is certainly more of a case to be made in trading Allen than Garland, with the latter looking much better over the last few games as he regains his footing (literally). But it’s only been better lately, as the Cavs are still statistically much better with Garland not on the floor.
In fact, the Cavs’ offense is in the 38th percentile and their defense in the 16th percentile with Garland on the court, per Cleaning the Glass. The Cavs are also seven points worse per 100 possessions when he is out there compared to when he’s not. That’s the worst such number of Garland’s career.
The reality of all of this is that even if teams did call about Garland, the Cavs would likely be receiving offers for pennies on the dollar. They cannot afford to do that, and their salary situation as a second apron team prohibits flipping the table in a way many fans probably would want to see. That means you won’t see a Garland trade that yields multiple rotation players, at least not until the summer.
Long story short, a Garland trade is either A) incredibly tricky, and/or B) a terrible deal for the Cavs. But likely, it would be both.
