The Darius Garland to Los Angeles Clippers trade in exchange for James Harden may have come as somewhat of a shock for the NBA community, but behind the scenes, there was always a move brewing. Until recently, it was believed that it was just the Clippers who were looking to ship Harden off, but it’s been revealed since that Garland was on the trade block all along.
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With Donovan Mitchell, it appeared that Garland had formed a decently good back court pairing. However, recent reports claimed they never truly meshed with one another. Their styles never fit. And although, in an ideal world, Garland would not want to leave Cleveland, he does not have bad thoughts about the organization.
On top of that, as he revealed during his presentation as a Clippers player to the media, he always knew he was going to be traded.
When a reporter asked him, “Did you have any inclination that this trade was coming?”, Garland simply stated, “Yeah, I knew about it. It wasn’t a shock.”
Well, most players are normally prepared for a trade at this time of the year. As proved by Luka Doncic’s jaw-dropping move to the Lakers in 2025, even the superstars are not safe. Their lives can be uprooted at any moment, whether they like it or not, such is the nature of this business.
But for Garland, it was different. It wasn’t anticipation, it was confirmation. It’s been reported that Mitchell, the face of the franchise right now, wanted someone different. That’s why they went for a future Hall of Famer in Garland. The Cavs wanted to maximize their championship window, being #5 in the East right now.
“I knew about it,” Garland repeated with a smirk, refusing to state how long he knew it for. “It wasn’t a shock though. It’s the business of basketball.”
Reporter: “Did you have any inclination that this trade was coming?”
Darius Garland: “Yeah I knew about it. It wasn’t a shock.”
“How long ago?”
“I knew about it. It wasn’t a shock though. It’s the business of basketball.” pic.twitter.com/T5aDPAdnX0
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) February 5, 2026
Funnily enough, his agent, Rich Paul, said on his podcast that he told Garland beforehand that this would be his last season in Cleveland. He didn’t expand on why this was the case but clearly Paul saw the writing on the wall.
Garland may have seen this coming after the 24/25 season itself. The Cavs were the best team in the East, but in the playoffs, they lost in the second round, in a series where it was evident that a backcourt of Mitchell and Garland had its limitations.
Regardless, on social media, Garland only had nice things to say about the Cavs, who drafted him in 2019 and made him a star. Now, it’s up to him to elevate the Clippers alongside Kawhi Leonard.
