Newly acquired Garland sees trade to Clippers as ‘next chapter’
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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Darius Garland spent his first evening as a Los Angeles Clipper watching the club that just traded for him face the team he left behind. The two-time All-Star guard was officially sent from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Clippers on Wednesday in exchange for 11-time All-Star James Harden.
Speaking at halftime of the matchup between Los Angeles and Cleveland, Garland said the move did not catch him off guard. “I knew about it. It wasn’t a shock,” he said. “Cleveland was great to me and my family … seven years was a really long time. I’m glad I’m here now — the next chapter in my book.”
The 26-year-old has been sidelined since Jan. 16 with a sprained big toe on his right foot. Head coach Tyronn Lue offered no timetable for Garland’s debut but said the team’s style will change once he is cleared. “He’s different from James and we can play faster,” Lue explained. “We can play him off the ball more. Having a young point guard under my tutelage, it’s the first time since Kyrie [Irving].”
Garland added that he is waiting for medical clearance and feels ready. Frequent injuries have limited him to more than 70 games only once in seven NBA seasons, and he is on pace for 42 appearances this year.
The Cavaliers pursued the deal to give star guard Donovan Mitchell additional scoring support. Harden, 36, provides that option and can also run the offense, while Los Angeles gains youth in a season where it holds no first-round draft pick.
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson called Garland “one of my favorite players” but acknowledged the difficulty of the decision. “Those are the toughest calls you have to make,” Atkinson said. “The positive is that he’s coming to the Clippers and he will be with Ty. I expect him to be great here and I’m rooting for him.”
Garland, whose father Winston Garland played parts of two seasons with the Clippers in the early 1990s, is already picturing his role alongside Kawhi Leonard. “I hope T-Lue uses me like he did Kyrie in that championship run they had [in Cleveland],” he said. “Whatever position he wants me in, I’m going to do that. I’m here to win games.”
Source: ESPN
